Vi Veri Veniversum Vivus Vici
by ChaosOrdered
Summary: See as Naruto learns his past, his future, the true identity of Upstairs, what the Biju are and exactly where he pulls his sword from.
1. Chapter 1

Okay, to start with I'm presuming that you have at least read and know about things in the narutoverse. As such, I won't be describing any clothing that the characters are wearing unless it's something different than what they have in the manga.

Comments and suggestions are appreciated but if I don't respond or don't use it don't feel bad. I also have a massive amount of high-grade explosives but I don't have anything to set them off so please bring your flames to help me blow stuff and people up. For those of you that don't have any flames, please, sit back and enjoy the show.

Disclaimer: This story was written in a country without copyright laws or INTERPOL protection, but meh, whatever is someone else's is not mine. If you see something that was originated by you, send me the book, chapter, and verse. I'll compare, and credit if necessary.

As far as updating goes it will depend on how lazy I'm feeling and how many people let me know that there waiting for the next chapter. However, my editor is an F7 Nazi (no, he's not a true nazi). Draw your own conclusions.

Be warned my editor is random and likes to spread it even without my permission or knowledge. Please keep all extremities inside the vehicle at all times, and enjoy what's left of your day.

Legend (of Zelda)

"speaking"

_thinking_

"**Kyuubi face to face"**

"_**Kyuubi thinking or voice in head" **_

* * *

**Chapter 1: The Powers That Be**

Welcome to the ninja village Hidden Leaf, Konaha, deep in the heart Fire Country where people greet you with a friendly smile. That is unless you happen to be a blonde haired blued eyed child by the name of Uzamaki Naruto. He has always been hated and shunned for reasons unknown to him. The only that he can actually remember showing any real kindness was the Sandaime Hokage, the current leader of Konaha, and the people at the ramen stand. But this matters not to the many travelers and villagers.

"Well that proved to be rather pointless," said a man with waist length dark blue hair as he exited a bar. He wore a matching dark blue Chinese style shirt and pants. The shirt had several dragons embroidered on it in silver.

As he walked down the street, he came upon a rather large crowd. As he neared, he could hear people yelling 'demon' and 'monster'. Curious, that and it was on his way; he decided to see what was going on. Though once he discovered what the crowd was doing, he became enraged. For the crowd was beating a small boy no more than six years old.

"What the heck do you people think you're doing," the man bellowed. Everyone in the crowd froze at the tone the man used. At was a voice that promised extreme pain. Then he made his way to the boy. He reached out and gently placed a hand on the boy's shoulder but, even while unconscious, the boy jerked away, afraid of the touch.

"_Man, what have these people done to the boy? To put him in a state like this they must have beaten him before. This is interesting, the boys wounds are healing faster than they should be," _the man thought.

"You should all be ashamed of yourselves. Attacking an innocent child," He continued aloud.

This statement caused one man, identified as a ninja by his hitiate, to step for and shout back, "We don't care what you say we all know he's a demon!"

"Stupid people if you really want to see a demon you should go look in a mirror. Now, I suggest you all return to your homes right now if you don't want to die," the man's voice was cold and laced with killing intent that had even the ninja among the mob sweating in fear. The crowd quickly dispersed wanting to be to get away from the man in front of them.

"_Now what should I do? I guess I'll have to take him to the inn with me," _he thought

Arriving at the inn the man proceeded to set the boy down on a bed. The man then began to check the boy over for wounds and was surprised to find that all his wounds were almost completely healed.

"_I guess if I want any answers I'll just have to use that jutsu," _the man thought contemplating the mystery lying on his bed. After a few quick hand seals, he reached out and touched the sleeping boys forehead. His eyes closed for a moment and when they opened, he found himself in a dimly lit sewer with doors on both sides. These doors were not of the physical kind but of the mental kind. Each door represented a memory. He figured it would be best to go backwards through the boy's memories, starting from when he found him.

As he watched the most recent memories play, he began to wish he had done more than just scare the villagers. It turned out the reason they were beating the boy was because he had tried to partake in a festival and he only got angrier from there. The boy's life was filled with sadness and despair. He was constantly shunned and beaten. Whenever he would try to make a friend with a kid at the playground the child's parent would rush them off and tell the 'little demon spawn' to never come near their child again.

There were very few happy memories in the boy's mind and they were either of an old man referred to as the Hokage or the man and his family at a local ramen stand. The man had to stop watching when he saw the boy get thrown out of the orphanage at two. He began to wander down the hallways thinking of different ways he wanted to kill almost the entire village with his bare hands. He was brought out of his thoughts when he ran into a large cage with the word 'seal' written on a piece of paper in the middle.

"What's this," he wondered out loud. Just then, a giant claw came from behind the cage trying to kill him. Ragnarok jumped back and that's when he saw two glowing red eyes that were slitted down the middle. As the eyes made their way forward, the dim light illuminated the owner of the eyes. It was a giant red fox with nine tails swishing behind it.

"Kyuubi," the man said in disbelief. "Hey Kyuubi old buddy how yah been." As he made his way over to his old friend, another claw shot out from behind the cage to kill him. Once again, he jumped back to avoid the strike.

"Hey, what's wrong with you," the man asked. Kyuubi just snarled in reply.

"Now I get it," the man stated as he transformed into a giant dark blue dragon with eight tails.

"WHACK" one of his tails hit Kyuubi head.

"Hey man, whoa Ragnarok is that really you man. Dude that was some messed up stuff that I ha…"

"WHACK" another of Ragnarok's tails hit Kyuubi's head.

**This time Kyuubi shook his head and then began to turn into a human with spiky red hair and wearing clothing similar to Ragnarok except red with foxes.**

"**OOOHH, my head. Ragnarok," came Kyuubi's puzzled voice. "What's going on and why am I in a cage?" **

"**Yah, Kyuubi it's me," Ragnarok said sighing as he reverted to a human form. "Well from what I can tell, you were under a powerful genjutsu. Now as for the cage, you attacked Konaha and during that time, someone called the shinigami to seal you into a kid. But what do you remember happening?" **

"**Not much really," Kyuubi explained. "I remember being summoned to deal with a guy that reeked of snakes with yellow snake eyes. Everything after that's fuzzy right now but enough of the past. Why are you here?" **

"**That, my friend, is a much sadder reason," Ragnarok said solemnly. "I suggest you use your link with the kid to review his memories." It didn't take Kyuubi long to review all of the boys memories and when he was done he was even angrier than Ragnarok was.**

"**Right now the only thing keeping me from telling you to rip this village apart is this kids desire to protect it," Kyuubi growled. "I can't believe that they disregarded their leader's last wish like that."**

"**What do you mean their leader's last wish," Ragnarok asked confused.**

"**Apparently you didn't look at all of this kid's memories," receiving a negative nod Kyuubi continued. "Apparently their leader, the Yondaime Hokage, this kids father, wished for him to be seen a hero for constantly keeping me imprisoned."**

"**What are we going to do now? It's obvious that they hate this kid because of you," Ragnarok asked. **

"Nothing!"

"What did you say, Botan" Kyuubi and Ragnarok shouted at the same time. Botan was a pale looking woman of average height wearing a light pink formal kimono. Her light blue hair was in a high ponytail that ran to her lower back.

"You are not to do anything," after Botan saw the looks of 'you better have a good reason'. She continued, "Upstairs doesn't want you to do anything."

"Why not," Ragnarok yelled.

"He has decided to give this boy a test to see if he is worthy of gifts from him," Botan answered.

"He has," Kyuubi stated floored that Upstairs would even consider giving this child gifts.

"Yes, he has but I don't know what the test will be. I am to simply modify the seal," she replied trying to answer the obvious questions.

"What's the reason for all the change if we're not supposed to do anything," Ragnarok asked.

"The changes to the seal will give Kyuubi access to the boys mind without him knowing it and will make it easier to heal him," Botan finished with a little sadness in her voice. After seeing no more questions, she continued, "Now Kyuubi you cannot interfere, he must learn of your presence on his own. Now Ragnarok, once you get out of here you are to take him back home alright."

Ragnarok simply nodded at the order and exited the boys mind. Back in is body; Ragnarok gently scooped up the boy and went to the boy's apartment. Ragnarok was so engrossed about what would happen to the boy in the future that he didn't notice the stares of the people as went. After getting into the boy's apartment, he gently laid him down, tucked him into bed, and walked out the door with a "goodnight".

* * *

**FIN**

**That's the end of the prolog. The story will pick up next chapter at a point during the manga. Keep reading to find out when. If you don't I really don't care.**


	2. Chapter 2

Comments and suggestions are appreciated but if I don't respond or don't use it don't feel bad. I also have a massive amount of high-grade explosives but I don't have anything to set them off so please bring your flames to help me blow stuff and people up. For those of you that don't have any flames, please, sit back and enjoy the show.

Disclaimer: This story was written in a country without copyright laws or INTERPOL protection, but meh, whatever is someone else's is not mine. If you see something that was originated by you, send me the book, chapter, and verse. I'll compare, and credit if necessary.

As far as updating goes it will depend on how lazy I'm feeling and how many people let me know that there waiting for the next chapter. However, my editor is an F7 Nazi (no, he's not a true nazi). Draw your own conclusions.

Be warned my editor is random and likes to spread it even without my permission or knowledge. Please keep all extremities inside the vehicle at all times, and enjoy what's left of your day.

Legend (of Zelda)

"speaking"

_thinking_

"**Kyuubi face to face"**

"**Kyuubi thinking or voice in head"

* * *

**

**Chapter 2: The Truth and Training ** "So you're telling me, that you're not responsible for the attack thirteen years ago and Sasuke is still alive."

"**Yes."**

To say that the blonde haired blue-eyed ninja, Uzamaki Naruto, was not very trusting would be an understatement. But there was something about the look that Kyuubi was giving him.

"Do you really expect me to believe that some freaky snake guy put you in a genjutsu and made you attack Konaha," Naruto asked.

"There is nothing else to say. Either you accept what he has told you as the truth or you do not," came a female voice.

"Who are you and how did you get inside my head," Naruto asked turning to the newcomer.

"Who I am and how I got does not matter right now. What matters is do you accept the story that has been laid before you," she asked.

"Well if this fur ball over there really is Kyuubi," Kyuubi's eye twitched at the fur ball comment but decided to let Naruto finish. "I see no reason not to believe his story. I mean I've never heard anyone else give a reason as to why Kyuubi attacked."

"It seems he is wise beyond his years. Wouldn't you say so Kyuubi," the woman asked.

"**Yes he is Botan. But it's unfortunate how he obtained that wisdom,"** Kyuubi responded.

"Could you guys explain what exactly is going on here," asked a very confused Naruto.

"That would be the reason I'm here," Botan answered. "What Kyuubi said is true that snake guy, Orochimaru, is the one responsible for Kyuubi's attack. But that's not very important right now. What is, is the fact that you have passed Upstairs' test."

"Test? What test," Naruto cut in.

"I was just getting to that," Botan responded. "Now where was I? Oh yes; now I remember. The test was what kind of person you are. And by that, I mean Upstairs wanted to know if you would give into the hate of the villagers or would you be able to put that behind you and forgive them their stupidity."

"And forgiven them you have and have proven that you have a pure heart. That is the reason that you have passed Upstairs' test. Now that you have passed the test, I can know tell you that Upstairs has found you worthy of receiving his gifts. So long as you do one thing for him "

"Say I decide to do this for him; what would I have to do," Naruto asked still trying to process the information.

"You really are smarter than you pretend to be," Botan commented.

"Hey! There's a reason why I act like a dobe," Naruto shot back.

"Yes, yes, I know why you do and it's unfortunate that your reasons are well founded. But to answer your question, you would do almost exactly what you are doing now," Botan stated

"You mean trying to become Hokage."

"Not exactly Naruto," Botan started. "It's more what being the Hokage represents; protecting those that are precious to you. Now, I must warn you that there will be many dangerous enemies that you have to fight regardless of whether or not you receive any gifts from Upstairs and they won't care about any they hurt to get to you. But Upstairs' gifts will aid you."

"So, let me get this straight. I choose not to continue protecting my precious people and face enemies or I choose to continue protecting my precious people and face the same enemies with gifts from whoever is this Upstairs is," Naruto questioned. Both Kyuubi and Botan nodded in agreement. It took all of 1.348 seconds after hearing that no matter what he decided to do his friends would be put in danger regardless of what he did.

"I'll do it! I mean at least with the gifts I can protect my friends better," he exclaimed.

"**Glad to hear it kit," Kyuubi voice boomed. "Now as far as training goes I'll help you out when I can but before I can do anything Botan is going to have to change the seal a little bit. Don't worry nothing much is changing physically. It'll actually be better for you this way and it also happens to be the first gift." **

"How is it going to be better," Naruto asked still shocked at everything that was happening.

"Well," Botan replied. "You'll get enhanced senses, being able to communicate with Kyuubi in your mind at any time, it will make it easier for you to handle his Chakra better, you'll be a bit stronger and faster, you'll also heal even faster."

"While that's all well and good what's going to keep Sasuke-teme from stealing any jutsus that I learn," Naruto inquired.

"**We'll cross that bridge when we come to it kit," **Kyuubi answered.

"Fine," was Naruto's exasperated reply.

"Now before I go don't tell anyone about what is going on with you and Kyuubi, unless you trust them. Wouldn't want to cause a riot now would we. If you'll excuse me, I need to make a few altercations to the seal," Botan said before she faded out and leaving Naruto and Kyuubi.

"**Now, while we've been talking in here that _girl_, yes Haku is a girl, has decided to save Zabuza from being killed by your sensei. When you get out of here I'll make sure to give you chakra to save them both," Kyuubi stated.** With that done Naruto was thrown back to reality.

* * *

_Scene change no jutsu_

Naruto looked up to see Haku about to get impaled by Kakashi's chidori _(thousand birds)._ Thinking fast, he charged forward and landed a viscous kick to Kakashi that was close enough to Haku's head to make it seem like he had missed. Kakashi landed with a crash somewhere behind the mist. While still conscious, he had lost the chidori he made and was exhausted from making it and using the sharingan so much.

Zabuza was shocked to see the loud mouth miss and hit his sensei like that. But he also was not one to look a gift horse in the mouth. He quickly raised his sword as he charged around his 'tool' to cut down the blonde.

Naruto turned to see Zabuza's sword coming down to cleave in half. Reacting on pure reflex his hand shot up to stop the sword. Zabuza smirked when he saw this, sword would cut straight through the boy's hand and body, killing him. But to his surprise, the blonde's hand stopped the blade cold.

Naruto blinked. He couldn't believe that his hand stopped the blade. What was even stranger was the fact that his hand was covered in what looked like some kind of white chakra. Naruto jumped back looking at his hand. His eyes widened when the chakra started to bend and change shape.

When it finally stopped shifting, Naruto was left holding a white glowing copy of Zabuza's Kubikiri Houcho. All Naruto, Haku and Zabuza could do was stare at the strange blade.

As they stood there in awe of the blade, they heard a clapping sound coming from the unfinished area of the bridge.

"Some demon you turned out to be," said a short fat man dressed in a suit behind a small army of bandits.

"Gatou," Zabuza growled out.

"_He's the one that's caused all of this," _Naruto thought getting angry.

"All of you must be pretty tired after all that fighting," Gatou said before he turned to the bandits. "Alright, kill all of them except the little wench. She owes me for breaking my arm and I have just the use for a pretty thing like her."

Naruto's anger was rising to a whole new level from Gatou's comment. He turned to see that Haku was about to collapse and that Zabuza was even angrier than him, if that was even possible.

"Hey kid, it looks like were not enemies anymore. Do me a favor and watch over Haku for me alright," Zabuza growled out before charging Gatou and his army of thugs.

"Zabuza-sama," Haku gasped as she went to help Zabuza but fell to the ground after the first step.

"_Dang it! It'll kill Haku if Zabuza dies. What can I do,"_ Naruto asked starting to panic.

"**_Hey kit."_**

"_What," snapped back at Kyuubi._

"**_First of all, you need to calm down," Kyuubi started. "Second, if you focus your killing intent toward the bandits. My chakra will amplify it making it strong enough to freeze the bandits in place."_**

Naruto mentally nodded as he did what Kyuubi told him to. Zabuza knew that he'd die charging at the bandits like he was, but as long as Haku managed to survive he could die happy. Right as he met the first of the bandits, all of them suddenly froze. While curious, Zabuza didn't stop to ponder why the gift horse decided to visit him a second time that day. He quickly tore through the bandits as he made his toward Gatou.

Gatou was scared out of his mind. One minute he was confident that the ninja would be easy pickings and the next he was filled with an unrelenting terror that froze him in place. Although these thoughts were fleeting as Zabuza finally cleared his men and took his head off in one smooth swing of his sword.

Exhausted Naruto stopped channeling Kyuubi's chakra and dropped his copy of the Kubikiri Houcho. He was surprised as it merely faded out of existence like a wisp in the wind.

"Hey, that was our meal ticket you just killed. Guess we'll just have to kill you off and raid the village," shouted a random recovered bandit, probably do to his own stupidity, as the mist cleared. But alas, an arrow landing in front of remaining bandits opposite of Zabuza killed those thoughts. For behind Naruto was the entire village of Wave, with Inari standing in front of them holding a crossbow.

"The hero always arrives late," Inari, shouted at Naruto.

Naruto let a small smile grace his face at Inari's repetition of his words from earlier. Stuck between a very anxious looking Zabuza and a small army of determined villagers the bandits decided to cut their losses and run for their lives.

About this time, Kakashi managed to make his way to in front of the villagers. Seeing Zabuza standing there ready to fight Kakashi reached back to grab a kunai.

"Relax Kakashi," Zabuza said as he relaxed seeing Kakashi's actions. "I just killed our traitorous client. So I no longer have a reason to fight you."

Kakashi saw Zabuza's actions and proceeded to put his kunai away but he still kept his guard up.

"So what are you going to do now," Kakashi asked curious.

"I don't know. We'll probably go back into hiding again," Zabuza replied.

"Wait," Naruto called out. "Before you go can you tell us why exactly you tried to kill the Mizukage?"

"Fine, I guess it wouldn't hurt to tell you," Zabuza started taking a glance at a nervous Haku. "The Mizukage ordered me and the other swordsmen of the mist to kill off anyone with a bloodline limit and when we refused to kill them, he called us traitors and ordered our deaths. I don't even know how many of us managed to get away or where they could be."

"Hey Kakashi-sensei how about they come back to Konaha with us and ask the Hokage for asylum," Naruto asked.

"If they want to I guess it would be alright," Kakashi replied.

Zabuza and Haku couldn't believe their ears. They might actually find a place they could call home. During this time, Sakura had found Sasuke, cried over his death, saw him revive, and nearly sent him to the Shinigami's arms for real with an oxygen depriving hug.

After all the excitement was over it was decided that Haku and Zabuza would stay with team 7 at Tazuna's house while everyone healed and the bridge was finished.

* * *

_Scene change no jutsu _

Tsunami and Inari were a little apprehensive about having Zabuza and Haku staying at the house but after Kakashi explained that they were no longer a threat she calmed down slightly.

The day progressed with Kakashi read his little orange book, Sakura fawning over the injured Sasuke, Naruto sitting in a corner staring off into space and Zabuza and Haku shooting nervous glances toward Naruto.

Kakashi thought it odd but chalked it up to the fight on the bridge for Naruto. On the other hand, he made a mental note to ask Zabuza and Haku what was wrong later, after all his book was just getting to a good part.

* * *

_Scene change no jutsu_

Unbeknownst to everyone was that Naruto was actually inside his mind talking to Kyuubi about what happened on the bridge.

"So, you think that I somehow made that white copy of Zabuza's sword with a blood limit," Naruto asked still a little skeptical at the whole process.

"**Ye, I do,"** Kyuubi replied.

"If that's true, then how do I do it again," Naruto questioned.

"**Hmm, for now try concentrating your chakra to your hand while picturing the sword," **Kyuubi suggested.

Later, Naruto did as suggested. At first, nothing seemed to happen but then a white aura surrounded Naruto's hand and then changed into Zabuza's sword. Both Kyuubi and Naruto were happy that they were able to figure out how to control Naruto's apparent bloodline.

Naruto spent the next few hours, away from prying eyes, as he practiced and experimented with his bloodline. The seemed to be rather well spent as they discovered that the more Naruto practiced, the faster he was able to summon the sword and that apparently the white aura had to make contact with a weapon before it could transform into that particular weapon.

The last discovery came after Kyuubi scared Naruto senseless by transforming into his human form and they used Kyuubi's sword named the Valmanway. Before Naruto left Kyuubi for bed, Kyuubi suggested that he ask if Zabuza to teach how to use a sword. Naruto agreed and with a mumbled goodnight went off to bed.

* * *

_Scene change no jutsu_

The next morning Naruto woke up and decided that he better put his mask back on before any one grew suspicious of his behavior. Breakfast was a rather quite affair Naruto lost in thought, Kakashi reading his book, Zabuza and Haku shooting glances at Naruto, Sasuke brooding while Sakura fawns all over him.

As Tsunami cleared the table Kakashi announced that with Gatou dead and the entire village helping with the bridge that they did not need to have some one stand guard and therefore were free to do whatever they wanted.

"Well then if I don't have to do anything, I'm going to go train," Naruto stated as he got up but paused and whispered just loud enough for Zabuza to here, "If you want answers follow me."

Zabuza sat there for about five minutes before saying he was going to have a look around the village. Haku, who heard what Naruto told Zabuza, said that she was going to join him.

* * *

_Scene change no jutsu_

Naruto sat in a clearing in the woods waiting for Zabuza. He was really nervous. He knew that if he wanted Zabuza to train him he would have to tell what happened on the bridge, this included the part about Kyuubi.

It was one of the things that he and Kyuubi discussed at great lengths. He really didn't want to tell him but the fox pointed out that in order for any training from Zabuza to do any good he would have to drop his mask. If he did that, he would have to explain why he was acting so different when he was around his team and in Hidden Leaf.

"Alright, start talking kid. What in the world happened on that bridge," Zabuza demanded.

Naruto jumped when Zabuza spoke, cursing himself for getting so lost in thought that someone could sneak up on him. Naruto turned to see Zabuza and Haku not to for away. He wasn't really that surprised to see Haku there. After all, she saw more of what happened on the bridge than Zabuza.

Naruto took a deep breath, "Before I explain that I need to ask you two questions."

"Oh, and what are they," Zabuza asked raising an eyebrow.

"One, you and Haku have to promise not to tell any one what I tell you," Naruto paused until he received an affirmative nod from the two of them. " And two will you train me to use a sword," Naruto replied.

"Why would I do that," Zabuza asked.

"Well, apparently I awoke a bloodline that allows me to copy swords and recreate them when ever I want," was Naruto's answer.

Both Zabuza and Haku were reasonably dumbfounded at this little tidbit of information. Several questions swam through their minds but Zabuza seemed to ask the most logical one, "what do you mean that 'you apparently awoke a bloodline' either you have or have not."

Naruto sighed, while it was a valid question he would have to tell them about Kyuubi and he didn't want to do that if at all possible.

"I'll answer that question as soon as you tell me if you will train me to use a sword," came Naruto quick reply.

"Sure why not, it would be nice to be able to pass my sword style onto someone," Zabuza said with a dismissive wave of his hand. "Now tell me what happened on that bridge. Because if you don't you can forget about me training you."

Now that that was settled came the truly unpleasant portion of his ordeal, the explanation.

"Take a seat," Naruto started. "This is a long story and I don't want any interruptions. To start off with my parents died when the Kyuubi no Kitsune attacked Konaha thirteen years ago. You know about that right?" Both Zabuza and Haku nodded yes.

"Well, the story you heard about the Yondaime Hokage killing it is a lie."

Zabuza was wondering what could anything about the Kyuubi have anything to do with what happened on the bridge. Haku, on the other hand, was starting to piece things together. The killing intent, the red chakra, the change in demeanor and shape that the chakra took all fit but both of them would, like they said, wait till the end of the story before asking any questions.

"The real story is that he couldn't kill the Kyuubi. The most he could do was seal into something else. The only thing that could hold Kyuubi's enormous amount of chakra and not break or die was a newborn baby whose chakra pathways had yet to develop."

"The reason for this was because that the baby pathways would be able to adept and grow to the demonic chakra. The baby was supposed to be seen as a hero for constantly keeping the demon at bay but the exact opposite happened. The baby grew up hated and despised by all."

"So great was the villagers hatred that the Hokage passed a law that no one could tell some one about the demon within the child unless they already knew. But even with that law in place people managed to pass on their hatred of the child to the younger generation. The child didn't even know why he was alone and hated till someone broke the law and told him when he was thirteen. I was that baby and I tapped into and used Kyuubi's chakra for the first time while fighting on the bridge."

Naruto instantly turned around as to not the look of hatred that was on Zabuza and Haku's faces. But contrary to his belief both of them were in a state of shock about what they just heard.

"_So that was what I felt while I fought Kakashi,"_ Zabuza thought as he came out of his shock.

"_So he grew up hated as well but then, why did turn around like that? Oh no, he probably thinks we're going to hate him like his village does," _Haku realized.

A million thoughts were running through Naruto's mind at that moment. Do they hate me, will they hurt me like other people do, are they going to leave me and not talk to me again. Naruto would have preferred almost anything but the oppressive silence that descended on the forest when he stopped talking.

"Naruto," came Haku's voice but it wasn't angry and full of hate like Naruto thought it would have been but it sounded soft, almost sad. "I… we don't hate you. In just the short time that I've known you, you haven't done anything that remotely could be considered acting like a monster."

"Haku's right, we don't hate you kid," Zabuza said in a rare display of emotions.

Naruto could not believe his ears. They did not hate him. In fact, they seemed to accepting him

"Re-really you don't hate me," asked Naruto hoping against hope that they did not.

"Yes," Both Haku and Zabuza replied at the same time. That simple statement caused more joy for Naruto than anyone would think was possible.

"Okay, enough of this mushy stuff and let's start the training," Zabuza said looking uneasy at what was developing.

"Right," Naruto responded wiping his eyes.

"How well can you control your bloodline," Zabuza asked.

"It takes about five seconds to go from bare to blade," answered Naruto.

"Here, how much does your bloodline sword weigh compared to this one," Zabuza questioned as he handed Naruto the Kubikiri Houcho.

"Eh, about the same I guess," Naruto guessed.

"Good, good," Zabuza thought aloud. "Now, to start with I want you to do three sets of two-hundred vertical, horizontal strikes, two-hundred slashes up to down, down to up, left to right, right to left. While I correct your movements. Got it? Good! Now get started!"

Naruto immediately on his feet and performing the tasks Zabuza told him to. He practiced the rest of the day with only a small lunch and the occasional break. Zabuza and Haku were amazed at the stamina that Naruto was exhibiting. After what seemed like an eternity for Naruto, Zabuza said that that was enough for today.

"Eh, Zabuza," Naruto wheezed out. "Before we go I need to talk to you."

"Well, what is it brat."

"When we're around others I'm going to be acting like a dobe. The reason for this is, as you know, I'm not exactly liked in my village and if I behaved as smart as I truly am people would try to do something that, at the very least, would be considered unpleasant. But if it's just us, I'll drop my mask. So, if you would, could you both not say anything about it or tell any one." Naruto looked at the pair with almost pleading eyes.

Zabuza and Haku understood that if Naruto's life is as bad as he said it is then his mask would probably be necessary and agreed not to tell anyone.

* * *

_Scene change no jutsu _

"Where have you been" Kakashi asked Naruto as he came through the door of Tazuna's home.

"Training," was his simple reply.

"Eh, just don't over do it, you were in a pretty big fight yesterday," Kakashi told him without ever looking up from his book.

"Hai, hai," Naruto said as he sat down at the table for dinner.

Dinner went by much like breakfast did but only Sasuke glairing at Naruto instead of Zabuza and Haku. Dinner was great in Naruto's opinion and once he had eaten his fill the days training was starting to catch up to him. So, once again with a mumbled goodnight he went off to bed.

Now, when Naruto went to bed he was expecting to wake up in the same bed he went to sleep in, not wake up in Kyuubi's cage.

"Um, Kyuubi what am I doing here," Naruto asked the ancient demon in human form.

"Well, this is how I'm going to help you train," Kyuubi stated, in his human form, as a matter of fact.

"And how are you going to do that," asked the skeptical teenager.

"Tomorrow I'm going to start activating your enhanced senses and tonight I'm going to give a special type of weight system called Spirit Weights. These weights not only weigh you down physically but it's also a chakra control exercise. To put it simply, in order to move at all you're going to have to use a precise amount your chakra at the same time. All it takes to remove them is a mere thought. So, as you can see these are far better than normal weights. And secondly, I'll be teaching you strategy and other things that they should have taught you at the academy," was Kyuubi's answer.

Maybe it was the way that Kyuubi said it or the sadistic smile on his face, it might have even been the look in his eyes but Naruto was sure of one thing, he was in for really rough nights.

"Well, go ahead and give them to me," Naruto said rather reluctantly.

"Alright, we'll start of with 25 pounds worth of weight," Kyuubi said trying not laugh at what was about to happen. The first thing that Naruto did once the weights were put on was to promptly fall unceremoniously to the ground.

""What the? I thought you said it was going to be 25 pounds worth this feels like 250 pounds you stupid fur ball," Naruto screamed from his position on the ground.

"You're right. One pound worth of spirit weight is worth ten pounds of normal weight," is all Kyuubi said before he broke down laughing at Naruto's predicament.

Needles to say, Naruto spent the rest of the night just trying to move with the weights on. He barely managed to move around sluggishly by the time he had to get up.

The next morning Haku volunteered to protect Tazuna while he finished the bridge as a to say thank you to team 7.

* * *

_Scene change no jutsu _

So, the week went with Kyuubi teaching Naruto the basics as he slept, Naruto training with Zabuza and Kyuubi, Zabuza telling Naruto how to swing the sword and to swing it more, Haku occasionally watching Naruto train and guarding Tazuna, Sasuke brooding about his brother and not being able to train, Sakura fawning over Sasuke and Kakashi reading his perverted novel.

At the end of the week, Zabuza had declared that it was time to start the next phase of Naruto's training in the silent killing technique. This phase entailed having Naruto learn and perfect the Kirigakure no Jutsu (Hidden Mist Technique) then, proceeding to alternate between playing tag and hide and go seek in the Kirigakure no Jutsu and sparring with Zabuza. Naruto was glad he had enhanced senses. They helped make up for his lack of experience in the mist while trying to find Zabuza. Zabuza was rather impressed with Naruto's stealth skills and even more impressed when he was able to pinpoint his location without much difficulty.

The day before they left, Zabuza told Naruto that there wasn't much else for him to teach him. All that was left really was for him to gain was experience and being able to create mass amounts of Kage Bunshins solved that problem.

* * *

_Scene change no jutsu _

Two weeks passed in that fashion. During that time Sasuke had completely recovered and the bridge was finished. Now, however, team 7 plus two are saying their goodbyes to the village of wave and Naruto in particular was saying goodbye to a very emotional Inari.

"Promise you'll visit," Inari asked holding back tears.

"Yeah, I promise. You know it's okay to cry when your happy," Naruto said back also on verge of crying.

"I'm not going to cry but you can," Inari shot back.

"Ehem, as lovely as this is we really need to get going," Kakashi said interrupting the duo.

With that said team 7 plus two waved as they turned to make their way to Konaha leaving a very thankful village behind them stand on their new bridge.

"Hey, what are we call this bridge anyway," a villager called out.

"Hmm, how about the Great Naruto Bridge in honor of the boy that reminded us what courage truly is," Tazuna suggested.

With a resounding cheer of approval, the village of Wave watched their heroes walk out of sight.

* * *

FIN 

**REVIEW or Smiley, Grinm, Jason, Freddy, Anko, will force you to watch twenty-four hours of Lee and Gai- sensei's Training video, _You and your Youthfulness_. (I pity the fool.)**


	3. Chapter 3

Woohoo!!! Chapter 3 I hope that you have enjoyed the story so far but before I start, I'll give cookies to the one that manages to notice what I did at the beginning.

* * *

**Chapter 3: Betrayal and Revelations**

On the way back to Konaha, Sasuke was dong a pretty good imitation of Inari when they first arrived at Wave as he thought about the fact that Zabuza and Naruto disappeared and reappeared at about the same time while in Wave. In other words, he was not a happy ninja.

"_Could that dobe be getting special training? No, no one would be willing to train a dobe like him. It doesn't matter anyway he'll always be a dobe and never beat me. For I am the almighty Uchiha," _he thought arrogantly.

Although Kakashi was supposed to be a genius, he failed to notice that Zabuza had been training Naruto. But it might also have something to do with the fact that he was either absorbed in his little orange book or thinking of the best way to help Sasuke with his training for the upcoming chunnin exams.

Sakura, well, does it really need to be said what she was doing. Haku meanwhile tended to stick fairly close to Zabuza or Naruto. Those two really wished that Tsunami was still around to cook so they didn't have to eat Sakura's charcoal cake. Thus in the words of Tazuna, the super uneventful trip to Konaha went for our group. And Kyuubi was thinking about how many times Botan had to drag Ragnarok from a bar after he drank too much sake.

* * *

_Scene change no jutsu_

A few days and a little trouble at the main gates of Konaha later, the group found themselves standing before the Hokage.

"So Kakashi, care to explain to me why you have brought two missing Nins with you to see me," the Sandaime asked.

"They have come to seek asylum and possibly become ninjas for the Leaf," he replied.

"And why would I be willing to do that," he asked back.

Thus for the next thirty the truth behind Zabuza's supposed coup d'état with Sarutobi asking the occasional question. When the story was over the Hokage leaned back into his chair with a thoughtful look on his face.

"I have heard rumors about the Mizukage ordering the destruction of anyone with a bloodline in Water," Sarutobi sad with a slight frown on his face. "Apparently, he's doing it to gain the support of his people after all the wars the country has fought."

"With the information that I have I see no reason to deny Zabuza and his apprentice asylum or to keep them from joining our ninja ranks. I'll set up tests to see where your apprentice ranks Zabuza. After that, she can decide if she wants to specialize in anything. I'll have a chunnin meet you downstairs show you where you going to live and show you around the village. As for team 7, take tomorrow off. Dismissed."

With that, team 7 parted ways, each heading towards their respective homes. But Naruto's stomach had a different idea and it let Naruto know with a rather loud growl.

"Eheh, I guess getting something to eat before I go home wouldn't be a bad idea," Naruto thought aloud.

He made good time to Ichiraku's ramen stand and as luck would have it, he saw Iruka at the entrance.

"IRUKA-SENSEI," Naruto shouted.

"Huh, Naruto? When did…ack… can't… breath," the chunnin replied as Naruto gave him a bone crushing hug.

"Oh, sorry Iruka-sensei," the blonde replied as he rubbed the back of his head and gave a sheepish smile.

After refilling his lungs with air Iruka was able to respond, "That's ok. Hey, when did you get back?"

"About an hour ago," Naruto Stated.

"Well come on, I'll buy you some ramen while you tell me how it went," Iruka offered.

As soon as Iruka offered to pay Naruto shouted, "ALRIGHT"

The pair entered the stand and a similar scene to the one played outside the stand replayed with the owner of the stand, Teuchi, and his daughter, Ayame. They all went through a tirade of emotions from worry when Naruto told them about the demon brothers attack, sympathy for the people of wave when they heard how bad it was under Gatou, back to worry that shifted to pride when Naruto told the part about Zabuza's attack, then back to pride as he told them of his accomplishment of mastering the tree climbing exercise, worry again as he told them about the battle on the bridge, and finally joy in the fact that Naruto had been able to make some friends while he was away.

Now, of course, this was the edited version that Naruto told his audience. He didn't want people to now about his bloodline, his training with Zabuza or anything that had to do with Kyuubi. It wasn't that he didn't trust them it was mainly the fact that he himself was unsure what to do. He had been keeping things from people so long that he didn't know how people might react if told them anything that might seem as though he was stronger than he pretended to be. It took an hour and fifteen bowls of ramen for Naruto to complete his story and when he was done, he let out a giant yawn signaling that today's events were starting to catch up to him. Iruka only chuckled at Naruto's action.

"Hey Naruto, why don't you go home and get some rest. I'm sure you've had a long day," Iruka said playing the part of an older brother or father.

"You're right Iruka-sensei. Goodnight and thanks for the ramen. Later Oji-san, Ayame-nee-chan," Naruto said sleepily before making his way to his rundown apartment. Upon arrival set his things down in a heap, went to the bathroom, then promptly dropped on top of his bed and fell asleep.

* * *

_Scene change no jutsu _

In the morning, Naruto woke up and then did his usual routine of showering, eating then brushing his teeth. He decided to take Kyuubi's advice and spend the day working on his bloodline and swordsmanship skills. So, after making his way through the village and ignoring the stares, threats muttered under people's breath and the occasional object, Naruto found himself at a spot that none dared set foot in. The reason why no one came here was because Kyuubi came through there in his assault of Konaha and no one wanted to come to a place that the demon had cursed with its presence.

Naruto had found this place years earlier while running from a mob of the usual angry villagers and since then has made it his own personal training ground. He started of with some stretches and then moved on to do push-ups, sit-ups, pull-ups on a nearby branch and finally a few lapse around the clearing.

He created two clones. He told one to go about setting up traps in the area while he and the other clone would wait before they started there spare. But an odd thing happened twenty minutes later. The clone had come back and told him the traps were ready and then dispelled himself. After the clone had dispersed, he suddenly knew where all the traps were along with his other clone

"_Hey, Kyuubi. Do you have any idea why I suddenly now where all the traps my clone set up are,"_ he asked his fury tenant.

"**_You had a small spike of chakra when the clone dispersed itself. If I had to guess I'd probably say it was the clones memories and experiences being sent to your brain." _**Kyuubi replied rather sagely.

"_Experiences huh," _Naruto nodded in thought. _"Hey wait a sec! If I get all of the experience of my clones I could create a hundred of them and have them spare each other for an hour then when I release the jutsu, I would gain all the experience. Meaning that I'll gain a hundred hours of experience instead of an hour. Yatta."_

"**_A word of caution kit, if you release a hundred clones at once the influx of chakra to your brain would be quite high. Probably nothing near what it would take to kill you but it would be enough to knock you out for several hours at least," _**Kyuubi warned him.

"_Hm, you're probably right but what if I staggered when I released the clones. If I did that the influx of chakra wouldn't be nearly as bad. Thereby getting around the side effect of using that many clones to train with,"_ Naruto countered.

"**_I'm impressed. You actually stopped using that mask long enough to think things through and come up with a viable answer to the problem," _**Kyuubi said with a smirk.

"_Shut it furball," _Naruto shot back.

Naruto then created ninety-nine clones, so that would be an even hundred including himself. He set half of them to go off and work on the silent killing technique while he and the other half just sparred with his bloodline. It was shortly after noon when Naruto finally decided to dismiss his clones and go eat lunch. He experimented with how many clones he could dispel at a time and discovered with the help of Kyuubi that dismissing about ten clones at a time would be the most he could do safely with a minute between dismissing each ten.

Surprise, surprise he decided to eat lunch at Ichiraku's again. So, after twenty bowls of ramen Naruto got back to his training. This time he made a hundred clones to go about sparring with his bloodline while he went to train himself physically. Naruto did this until dusk. It's not that he really wanted to train that long but it was either that or go home to an empty house while having to put up with the villagers glares all the way home but at this late an hour most people were already indoors and those that were out really wouldn't pay him any attention.

Between training himself physically with Kyuubi the sadist, as Naruto started to call him, constantly increasing his weights when he got used to them and maintaining the large amount of clones for most of the day, he was dead on his feet by the time he got home. He made a mental note not to do as much as he normally did while using his shadow clone training method. But in the end it was worth it he guessed.

His spar with a single clone after he dismissed the rest of them let him feel how much more comfortable he was when using his bloodline. That night Kyuubi decided to just let him sleep and forgo the usual night lessons.

* * *

_Scene change no jutsu _

The next morning when the Naruto finally woke up, he let out a loud scream of WHAAAAT that reverberated throughout the village. The reason for this scream was that in his tired state last night he forgot to set his alarm. Realizing that he only had twenty minutes before Kakashi would be there to meet his team, considering that Kakashi is always two hours late, meant that, yes, indeed he overslept.

So with a lot of curses and other profanity, that would make sailors tell him to watch his mouth, he sped through getting ready and even skipped eating breakfast to get there on time.

He barely managed to make it to the training ground in time but what greeted him was a lone tumbleweed blowing across the open field. There was neither hide nor hair of Sakura, Sasuke, or even Kakashi. In fact, the only thing there was a bag with a scroll on top addressed to him from Kakashi. Naruto went, picked up the scroll, and began reading it.

"_Yo"_

"_Geez, leave to Kakashi-sensei to have a lame opening like that," _Naruto grumbled mentally

"_Two months from now the chunnin exams will be held in Konaha and with I have decided to take and train Sasuke one on one tell then. I found somebody else to train Sakura and decided to leave some scrolls here to help you, as I was unable to find any to teach you. Jan ne."_

"_Unable to find any one to teach me my foot," _Naruto thought. _"More like didn't bother even trying. I mean, come on, the note he left is only a polite way of saying 'I don't care about you'. Pff, who needs him anyway, it's not like this is the first time people have just abandoned me," _Naruto ranted mentally.

Kyuubi on the other held could tell just how deeply Kakashi's actions had hurt the boy. Mainly because he thought for once maybe, there would be some one that wouldn't abandon him other than Iruka or the Hokage. Kyuubi could also tell that Naruto was getting dangerously close to exploding and doing something that he might regret. He could only pray that nothing else would happen that day that could set the blonde off.

Naruto just buried these thoughts and feelings like he usually did. Putting his mask on, full blinding smile, he decided to go get something to eat before he started his solo training. It seemed as though Kami didn't get Kyuubi's request; for as Naruto walked back through the village it was becoming harder and harder for him to maintain his mask.

But apparently Kyuubi's request just got buried in a pile because as Naruto was about to snap one; of the few people that at least acted neutrally toward Naruto happened to call out to him, answering Kyuubi's request.

"Hey, Naruto what are you doing," was the voice of Yuuhi Kurenai and standing next to her was the rest of her team, Shino, Kiba and the ever shy Hinata.

Looking at some one that didn't have hate or disgust in their eyes helped Naruto keep his mask in place as he answered, "Just looking for some place to eat lunch Kurenai-sensei."

While that sounded like the normal happy Naruto, Hinata was able to tell that something was definitely wrong with him. The reason she was able to tell was that she often followed Naruto during the academy days and watched him train and how he acted when he thought that no one else was around.

"Well, why don't you join me and my team for lunch then. My treat. I'm sure you guys would like to catch up on what has happened since you graduated the academy. That and I want the details of your mission to wave country. I heard you had a few surprises," Kurenai asked hoping that she could pump information out of him.

"Sure, that would be awesome," Naruto replied with a large grin.

Kurenai thought it was perfect. All she had to do was take him to a nice sit down restaurant where she would be able to get the full details of his C turned A ranked mission. True, it would cost her a little bit of money but every one who heard about that mission wanted to get the full details of it and the loud mouth blonde in front of her was more than willing to provide just that.

But all those thoughts came to a crashing halt when the server out right refused Naruto a seat saying that, "That _Thing _isn't allowed in here." But before she could respond, Naruto spoke up.

"Hey Kurenai-sensei, I just realized that I forgot I'm supposed to be somewhere right now." And then he sped off. Kurenai easily saw through the excuse but she also saw something flicker in his eyes for the briefest moment, pain.

She almost immediately turned to the server and said just loud enough for him to hear her, "You'll hear about this later."

And then turned to team to see that Hinata was gone.

"Where did Hinata go," she asked her remaining two students.

"She left right after Naruto did," came the monotone voice of Shino.

"You two take the rest of the day off while I track Hinata down okay," Kurenai told them but she already figured that Hinata ran after Naruto and truth be told she wanted to track him down as well.

With her two students nods she sped off after Naruto and Hinata.

* * *

_Scene change no jutsu (with Naruto)_

Naruto was speeding through the village at an insane pace. He was ticked and he knew that if he didn't get the forest fast to relieve his rage he was most likely going to kill some one. Kyuubi just sat in his cage as all of this was playing out and agreed with the blonde's course of actions. He also knew that there was no way that he even had a remote chance of calming him down.

It didn't take him long to reach a clearing in the forest. Once there, he proceeded to start destroying the trees while screaming in his mind about the stupidity of the villagers.

* * *

_Scene change no jutsu (with Hinata)_

She couldn't believe what the server just told Naruto and was angry and sad at the same time. She was angry that the server would do something like that and sad that it seemed to cause so much pain to Naruto. She had noticed the glares he received throughout his life but was never aware of this level of treatment or why anyone would hate Naruto so much. The pain she saw in Naruto's eyes frightened her to the core.

The pain in his eyes and the treatment the server gave him gave her the resolve to track down Naruto and not leave until she found out why he was treated this way. By the time she caught up to him, he had already leveled two thick trees and was well on his way to leveling the third. So, with a loud, at least loud for her, voice she called out his name.

* * *

_Scene change no jutsu _

Naruto stopped mid punch when he heard his name. Taking a deep breath, he put on his fake smile that scrunched his eyes so much that he could barely see and nobody could see his eyes.

"Hi, Hinata. What are you doing here," he asked still wearing that same smile.

"Stop it Naruto-kun. I can see the pain you hide with that smile using my Byakugan. Why," Hinata said not even noticing she wasn't stuttering at the moment.

"Why what, Hinata," he asked trying to act confused. Kyuubi was personally glad that Hinata had shown up. She was the one person who knew Naruto's past somewhat and could possibly get him to open up.

"You know what I'm talking about Naruto," she said making her way towards him. "Why do hide behind a mask of smiles? Why do hide your true strength? Why do act dumber than you are when I've seen you give Shikamaru a challenge in Shogi? Why do hide who you truly are? Why do all of the villagers seem to hate you just for living?"

During Hinata's speech Naruto's mask slowly lipped away and by the end of it, it was completely replaced with his rage and pain.

"You want to know why I act the way do. You want to know why I have to hide everything about me. You want to know why the villagers hate. Why they beat me. Why the teachers in the academy gave the worst possible grades without failing me no matter what I did. Why my own sensei would abandon me to train the precious Uchiha. Why I don't even know who my parents are."

"Fine all tell you. I have the Kyuubi no Yoko sealed within me. Yeah, that's right the entire village has been lying to you. Only the adults know the truth. They ignored the Yondaime dying wish to treat me as a hero and instead treated me as the fox itself. Now, that you know you can run away and hate my guts like the rest of this village," at the beginning of his speech, Naruto had an even voice but by the end he was openly shouting. When he finished, he turned around and sat down rather unceremoniously.

Hinata was shocked at what she just heard. She was expecting something big but this information was just sheer overload to anyone's brain. Then when you ad the pain and sorrow that came through in his voice, it was enough to… to …she didn't know what it would do. Then her body started moving even before her brain registered that she was doing.

Naruto sat there on the ground standing on his last legs emotionally and when he heard footsteps, he nearly broke down and cried right then and there. But suddenly something warm wrapped around him causing him to stiffen. It took him a minute to realize that he was actually receiving a hug but once he did, he threw himself into it and wept.

Hinata's brain caught up to her body right before she bent down to hug Naruto. While normally she would of instantly blushed and backed off, she could tell that right now the one thing he needed most was to be embraced and let know that there is actually someone who cares. His body stiffening made her heart go out to him even more and made her wonder just how many times he had received a hug in his life.

But the thing that shocked her even more was when he abruptly turned around and grabbed her like she was a life preserver. She was again shocked when he openly wept, not cried, wept. Not once had she ever seen Naruto cry no matter what happened to him.

In a tree not too far away, Kurenai sat shocked beyond all belief. She had managed to make to Naruto shortly before Hinata and given the state he was in, wisely decided it be best to hide herself in a genjutsu and wait for him to calm down. But when Hinata came to the clearing and make him stop his rampage mid punch she was dumbfounded and before she could anything Hinata kept pressing him asking questions that she believed too impossible to be true.

Then the confession that Naruto gave and his voice as he said it in was heart wrenching. But the thing that had her glued to that spot was the look in Naruto's eyes afterwards when he was sitting on the ground. They were old. As old as time itself it seemed but they were also dead, devoid of all life all emotion. That's when she realized just how bad his life truly was. She always knew his life was tougher then most but she had no clue as to how much he had been hiding to keep himself safe.

She was going over everything she had ever heard about the boy and with this new information; she couldn't believe how obvious it was that he was hiding something. Seeing as Hinata seemed to have things under control, she decided it would be best for her to leave before she tried to think of anything else.

What no one in the clearing knew was that Shikamaru had been cloud gazing with Chouji and the two of them were having similar thoughts to both Kurenai and Hinata. After they had somewhat came out of their information overload, they both decided to make a silent exit from the clearing.

It quickly became obvious to Hinata just how hard Naruto was crying. It had only been a few minutes since he started and already her shirt was soaked but she didn't care. The only thing that mattered was that Naruto needed her to comfort him and that is exactly what she did. It must have been an hour with Hinata whispering soothing words into Naruto's ear as she rubbed his back and rocked him. Finally, his tears stopped and his breathing evened out. Hinata took this opportunity to look at him only to find him fast asleep, still clinging to her like he did when he first grabbed her. So, she sat there thinking about everything he said till he woke and was sure that if other people knew what she knew they would be reevaluating their opinion of him.

Half an hour later Naruto finally began to stir. He woke up felling warm and safe for the first time that he could remember. He didn't want to let go of whatever he was holding onto but as the memories of his breakdown came back to him, he reluctantly released his embrace of Hinata.

Hinata felt him stirring beneath her and she didn't want to let go of him but as he began to pull away, she reluctantly did the same.

"Thank you Hinata. You have no idea what you just did means to me," Naruto said just above a whisper.

"You're welcome Naruto-kun. Ano, what did you mean that your sensei abandoned you," Hinata asked in an equally quite voice seeking some answers.

With a heavy sigh Naruto answered, "It's just like it sounds. Kakashi-sensei went off to train Sasuke himself while finding Sakura another teacher and just left me with some scrolls."

Hinata was shocked and appalled by Kakashi's behavior and knew one man that should know and would help Naruto with this.

"Naruto-kun let's go talk to the Hokage about this. Surely, he can do something to help you; at the very least he needs to know what Kakashi-sensei has done. I'll come with you," Hinata offered.

"You're right Hinata-chan. Come on lets go," Naruto said with a small smile. Hinata could tell this was a true smile, not one of the ones he uses to hide his pain, but an honest to goodness smile.

The glares that Naruto received on their way to the Hokage tower took on a whole new meaning for Hinata now that she knew the reason behind them and she couldn't help but be ashamed and disgusted with the villagers attitude. What broke her heart even further was the fact that Naruto didn't even seem fazed by them. It was like he was used to them. That's when dawned on her, he was used to them. Hinata's admiration and love for Naruto grew many, many times that day.

* * *

_Scene change no jutsu _

The Sandaime Hokage was in the battle with the most evil thing in a hidden village, paperwork. So, it was both a delight and confusing to see Naruto walk in with the young Hyuuga heiress.

"What can I help you two with," the old man said with a smile.

"Ano, N-Naruto needs y-you to find him a-a new sensei Hokage-sama," Hinata said with her stutter returning full force.

The Hokage raised an eyebrow as he asked, "And why do you need a new sensei Naruto-kun."

"Because Kakashi found Sakura a teacher and just left me with some scrolls while he went off to train the precious Uchiha personally for the chunnin exams," Naruto said in voice that could give Gaara a run for his money.

The Sandaime's eyes widened in shock for a second before he narrowed them in anger and the fact that Naruto dropped the sensei from Kakashi's name wasn't unnoticed either.

"I see. I'll take care of this although it may take me a day or two to find someone," the Hokage answered as anger for what Kakashi did began to boil inside of him.

"That's okay Oji-san I know you'll at least try. Well I'll be at training grounds thirteen when you find someone," Naruto told the old man sounding happier.

While Hinata would've been rather shocked to hear Naruto call the Hokage old man any other day, after the events of earlier it didn't even faze her.

"Alright, I'll see you two later," the Sandaime answered smiling at Naruto's improved attitude.

With that, the pair bowed to the Hokage and left. As they were leaving, a purple haired women wearing a short skirt, fish net shirt and brown trench coat entered the Hokage's office.

Sarutobi let out a sigh as Miterashi Anko entered his office. The sigh didn't go unnoticed by Anko but she would wait till her report was done to see what was bothering the Hokage.

"What do you need Anko," the Sandaime asked still trying to think of what to do about Naruto's situation.

"I just came to report that preparations for the second part of the chunnin exams are complete Hokage-sama," she said in an official tone.

"That's good," he replied still only half listening.

"If I may ask what's bothering you sir and if there is there anyway I could help," she asked in her usual overly energetic voice.

This stopped Sarutobi mid thought. "_Yes, that might work," _he thought to himself.

The sudden glint in the Hokage's eye had Anko wondering what she just got herself into.

"You might actually be able to help. What are your thoughts on Uzamaki Naruto," He asked.

"Well, I think the villagers are stupid for not respecting the Yondaime's last wish," she responded not sure where this was going.

"Good, as of tomorrow I'm here by putting you in charge of his training till the chunnin exams," he smiled as he finished thinking that he fixed the problem painlessly.

"No, why should I train the brat," came Anko's immediate response.

"Because Kakashi abandoned him to train the Uchiha," Sarutobi countered getting desperate.

Anko was shocked at this. How could Kakashi disregard the teachings of his sensei so easily? Chibi Anko, on the other hand, saw the desperation of the Hokage and decided to have a talk with adult Anko. Now it was Sarutobi's turn to worry about the glint in Anko's eye.

"Fine but I'll only do it if you pay for all of my Dango while I train him," she said trying to suppress a smile at the plight she just put the Hokage in.

"Deal," The Hokage replied almost immediately. Anko promptly stared at the Hokage with her mouth slightly open at the quick acceptance of her terms. This didn't deter chibi Anko from do back flips and waiving a big victory banner over her head.

"Okay, where do I meet the brat," she asked after getting over her stupor.

"He should be around training grounds thirteen tomorrow," he replied as he thanked Kami that he was able to convince the psycho jounin. Anko absently nodded as she turned and left the office.

* * *

_Scene change no jutsu _

Hinata stood outside the Hokage office as she waited for the purple haired women to get done with her meeting. When she and Naruto left earlier, she felt that the Hokage needed to know exactly what had happened earlier with Naruto. She was still lost in thought and confused about so many things that she almost missed the women walking out of the Hokage's office. But once she did though she quickly made her way back into his office.

* * *

_Scene change no jutsu _

The Sandaime was surprised to see Anko walkout of his office and almost immediately have Hinata walk back in.

"Is there something else you need to talk to me about Hinata-chan," he asked confusion clearly written on his face.

* * *

_**FIN**_

**REVIEW or Smiley, Grinm, Jason, Freddy, Anko, will force you to watch twenty-four hours of Lee and Gai- sensei's Training video, _You and your Youthfulness_. (I pity the fool.)**


	4. Chapter 4

Hello, this chapters a little shorter than the last two (like I care). I probably won't be updating as soon next time but like I said the more you pester me the more I'll write.

I'd like to thank all those who have left reviews for me.

Enjoy.

* * *

**Chapter 4: Reevaluations**

"Ano… um… I-I have some questions a-about the K-Kyuubi no Yoko sealed in N-Naruto-kun," the shy Hyuuga heiress stuttered out. This tidbit of information caused the Hokage to drop his pipe to the floor and stare wide-eyed at the girl. For the next few minutes, you could here a pin drop in the Hokage's office. During the silence, Hinata actually thought she had killed the Sandaime.

"Who told you about that," Sarutobi asked narrowing his eyes. If someone was going around the village telling people, he had a serious problem on his hands.

"N-Naruto did Ho-Hokage-sama," she said slightly scared of the way the Hokage changed demeanors so fast. The Hokage visibly relaxed at that statement.

"Do you know why he told you," the Sandaime asked as his facial features softened. He figured she didn't have a problem with it unlike the rest of the villagers since she was here with him earlier and for that he was grateful.

Thus, the shy heiress spent the next fifteen minutes telling the Hokage what had happened in the clearing. The more Hinata spoke the more the Hokage realized just how badly he had let the Yondaime down in regards to his final wish and went through and reevaluated everything he thought he knew about the, now, blonde enigma.

* * *

_Scene change no jutsu _

Anko had just spent the last hour going over her new student's file and decided it was time for a nice, relaxing drink. This is how she ended up in front of the bar that her and her friend, Kurenai, frequented. When she entered and saw said friend sitting at the bar she just had to go over and announce the good news.

"Hey, Kurenai. You wouldn't believe that I got the Hokage to pay for all my Dango for the next two months and all I have to do is train the Uzamaki brat," she said joyously.

Completely oblivious that Kurenai wasn't paying her any attention till her shoulders slumped and asked the bartender for another bottle of sake. That drew Anko's attention. Kurenai always drank very little liquor and sitting in front of her seemed to be an empty bottle of sake. Granted the stuff she was drinking wasn't the strongest but something had to be really wrong for Kurenai to drink that much.

"Hey, what's wrong with you," Anko asked sounding concerned for her friend.

"That Uzamaki brat as you put it," she said before downing the entire saucer of sake in one gulp. Now Anko was sure something was wrong. Anko never ever saw Kurenai down an entire saucer like that before no matter what. And whatever was wrong seemed to involve her new student.

"What did the brat do," Anko asked wanting to know what could cause Kurenai this much mental anguish.

So, Kurenai sat there and told Anko what she had witnessed in the clearing a few hours ago and how she spent the last few hours reevaluating everything that she knew about Naruto and how she finally ended up in the bar trying desperately trying to forget the look she saw in his eyes just after he told Hinata about the fox.

Anko found herself reevaluating everything she had learned about the blonde as well. She also found that pure unbridled anger was welling up inside her against the villagers and their treatment of Naruto. She decided that she had to drag Kurenai to the Hokage's office to tell the old man himself.

* * *

_Scene change no jutsu _

Sarutobi Asuma was beginning to get worried about his two students Chouji and Shikamaru. Ever since they came back from lunch they looked as though something was greatly disturbing them. He actually won a game of Shogi against Shikamaru and he didn't even mutter a troublesome. Chouji on the other hand hadn't even so much as slight twitch that would indicate that he was going to get some chips. Although Ino seemed perfectly fine if her mouth was any indication.

"Hey, HEY SHIKAMARU, CHOUJI are you two even paying attention. Gah, you guys can be just as bad as that baka Naruto," Ino yelled. This, Asuma noted, got Chouji's and Shikamaru's attention. "Speaking of that dobe, he better not be holding Sasuke-kun back. I mean even fore-head girl is better than he is."

"Shut up, Ino," Shikamaru said before Ino could continue. "You don't know anything about Naruto or his life and until you do I won't let you sit there and insult him. I'm going home."

Both Ino and Asuma were shocked at Shikamaru's little display. Never before had he talked to Ino like that. Heck, he couldn't think of anyone that Shikamaru spoke to like that. Chouji sat there shaking his head agreeing with him before he got up to leave.

When Asuma pulled himself out of his stupor, both Shikamaru and Chouji were long gone, so he dismissed Ino for the day. While he himself sat there wondering what happened with Naruto to make Shikamaru do that. Asuma wondered if his father knew about anything that had happened to Naruto lately that Shikamaru and Chouji might have found out about.

* * *

_Scene change no jutsu_

The Sandaime Hokage was sitting and going over all of Naruto's records from the academy for anything out of place when suddenly Asuma, Kurenai, and Anko, with Anko holding onto Kurenai, emerged from plumes of smoke. He was glad that Anko was there, it would save him the trouble of tracking her down, but why she, along with the other two, would suddenly teleport into his office was a complete mystery.

"What can I help you three with," he asked.

"Kurenai has something that I think you should hear about Naruto," Anko said while pushing Kurenai forward a little.

"Really? Apparently Shikamaru and Chouji found something about Naruto during lunch and it caused Shikamaru to actually snap at Ino earlier," Asuma interjected.

Now everyone's eyebrow rose at this except for Kurenai's. Her eyes had become the size of dinner plates. She was aware of Shikamaru's habit of going out to forest clearings with Chouji to watch clouds. Her brain began to peace it together, she and Hinata were so focused on Naruto that they could have easily missed them being there as well and with the volume of Naruto's yell they didn't have to be particularly close either.

"Do those two still go to the fields on the outskirts of the village to watch clouds during lunch," Kurenai spoke up. Asuma nodded yes. "Did you know if they went into the Eastern part of the forest?"

"I think so. What does that have to do with Shikamaru snapping at Ino today," Asuma asked, raising an eyebrow.

"Well, that's where Naruto told Hinata about the Kyuubi," Kurenai responded. Asuma's cancer stick promptly fell from his mouth.

"Yes, that is possible," the Hokage said rubbing his chin. "Hinata came in and told me what happened right after you left Anko, but I was unaware that Kurenai was also there. Why don't you tell us what you saw Kurenai."

* * *

_Scene change no jutsu _

Ino was ticked. She couldn't believe that Shikamaru told her off like that. She knew everything there was to know about Naruto, but her pride had already taken the blow. There was only one way to fix it and that was to prove to Shikamaru that she knew everything about the blonde. Fortunately for her, her clan's techniques made it possible to find out everything straight from the source.

Now, all she had to do was to find the blonde and if she knew anything about him it was that around mealtime you could find him at Ichiraku's Ramen Stand. She arrived at the stand without any trouble and sat down next to Naruto. It was perfect; Naruto was so busy eating his ramen that he would never see it coming.

* * *

_Scene change no jutsu _

Chouji and Shikamaru finally decided to seek some answers from Naruto about what they had heard earlier. This is what led them towards Ichiraku's Ramen Stand. Shikamaru suddenly stopped right before he entered the stand. He saw Ino sitting at the bar, doing familiar hand seals and looking straight at Naruto. Being the genius that he was, he realized a moment too late what she planned to do.

* * *

_Scene change no jutsu _

Naruto's day was actually looking up for once. What happened earlier with Hinata seemed to lift some of the burden he was carrying and she was right about going to the Hokage and talking about what happened. Thinking of Hinata got him thinking about what he felt when she was holding him as he cried and as they talked to the Hokage. He wasn't sure what it was. All he knew for sure was that the feeling went away when he left Hinata.

A sudden shout of "Naruto" from behind him drew his attention, but before he could turn around to see what it was, he suddenly felt a huge headache.

* * *

_Scene change no jutsu _

Shikamaru was cursing his luck. He wasn't able to get Naruto's attention before Ino finished her _shintenshin no jutsu _(mind body switch). He was currently thanking Kami that his father insisted that he learn how to cancel the technique with his _Kage Mane no Jutsu (_Shadow Copy Technique) once he canceled out the technique, Ino and Naruto slumped down.

* * *

_Scene change no jutsu _

Almost as quickly as the headache came it started to dissipate, but Naruto was left feeling dizzy.

"Naruto, you all right," Naruto heard someone ask as he regained his senses. Looking up, Naruto saw Shikamaru and Chouji running towards him.

"What happened," he asked as Shikamaru helped him up.

"I think Ino just went through your memories," Shikamaru said pointing towards Ino.

"_Is that true, fox," _Naruto asked Kyuubi beginning to panic.

"**_Yeah, it is. I'm not sure how much she was able to go through before someone canceled the jutsu," _**Kyuubi replied, also worried.

"How is she," Naruto asked.

"It looks like she just fainted," Chouji said as he looked her over.

"**_Kit, I suggest you take her to the hospital and wait with her till she wakes up," _**Kyuubi suggested, worried about the psychological damage that she might have experienced.

"_Why should I do that furball? I mean she only fainted,"_ Naruto asked puzzled.

"**_Because kit, what would happen if you suddenly experienced your life in a few moments," _**Kyuubi stated.

"_Oh,"_ was Naruto's one word reply.

"Hey Shikamaru, could you go and find Ino's parents while I take her to the hospital and wait for her to wake up," Naruto asked.

Chouji was about to ask why when Shikamaru cut in, "Sure, Naruto. Troublesome woman," the lazy genius drawled.

"Thanks," and with that Naruto sped off towards the hospital.

"Hey Shikamaru, why did you do that, she only fainted," Chouji asked confused at Shikamaru's actions.

"Because Chouji, if Naruto's life is half as bad as he said it is there's no telling what might have happened to her mentally. Well, I guess it's a good thing that our parents are getting together for dinner about now. Kami, how did this day get so troublesome," Shikamaru responded. And then they too left the ramen stand.

* * *

_Scene change no jutsu _

"You're sure that he wasn't using Kyuubi's chakra," Asuma asked trying to digest the amount of destruction that Naruto caused in such a short time.

"He wasn't using Kyuubi's chakra. Heck, he wasn't using any chakra at all," Kurenai answered.

"Hmm, it appears what Hinata said about Naruto was correct," came the Sandaime's thoughtful words.

"What do you mean by that Hokage-sama," Kurenai asked, confused.

"Right after Hinata left, I sent for all of Naruto's records, including the ones from the academy," Sarutobi said as he pushed the large folder in front of him forward for the others to look at. "I made some starling discoveries. Because it's standard protocol for a copy of all major assignments to be put in there, I found that Naruto's claim of being conspired against was true.

"It's obvious when you look at it that the first part of the first two years of the academy that the hand writing is different than the rest. If I had to guess, Naruto figured out that no matter how well he actually did on a test, he would receive the worst possible grades. After trying for a couple of years he just quit trying."

"But what about Iruka, Hokage-sama, surely he wouldn't do that as well," Asuma shocked at the boys treatment.

"You're right he wouldn't, but by the time he got Naruto to trust him, the damage had already been done. So, it looks like no one knows just how strong Naruto might be," the Sandaime asked taking a puff of his pipe.

"Yeah, it looks that way and I don't think that we can just call him in here and make him tell us how strong he is either," Anko said with a sigh.

"Why is that, Anko," Sarutobi asked slightly surprised at the statement.

"No offence, but I don't think he'd be willing to admit a secret that he's been hiding so well and for so long so easily. No matter how much he trusts the person that asked," Anko explained.

"Then what do you suppose we do," the Hokage asked, realizing the validity of Anko's point.

"The way I see it is that the only way that he'll reveal how good he is, is to leave him no other option but to show us," Anko answered.

"But still, how does that solve our problem," Asuma stated, itching for a cancer stick.

"Let me finish," Anko snarled. "Now, we know where he'll be training tomorrow morning. So what I suggest is that I Henge into a missing-nin and attack him. However, I would like you, Hokage-sama, to watch in person. I doubt he'll trust me if I stop and tell him that I'm his new sensei and I was only testing him to see how strong he is."

"Given how everything is at the moment, I think Anko's idea is the best we can do," the Hokage said with a nod.

"Excuse me, Hokage-sama, I would also like to come and watch this test. As would Kurenai I believe," Asuma piped in.

Indeed, Kurenai was sitting there nodding her head in agreement. The Hokage agreed since having more people that Naruto knew at the site, would help convince him it was only a test. With that, the three Jounin left the Hokage to reevaluate their opinion of the blonde enigma.

* * *

_Scene change no jutsu _

Chouji and Shikamaru had taken their time to get to the Akimichi residence where their parents were meeting. They figured it would probably be best for Ino and Naruto to have some time to talk before her parents arrived.

"Hi Chouji, Shikamaru. Where's Ino at," Akimichi Choza asked as the pair stepped into the kitchen.

"At the hospital with Uzamaki Naruto," Shikamaru replied. As soon as the words left his mouth both of Ino's parents bolted for the hospital presumably, and the other adults became angry.

"What did that _thing_ do to her, son," Shikaku asked his son with barely restrained anger.

"You want to tell me why you seem to think that he did something to hurt Ino first," Shikamaru asked back.

"No I can't. All you need to know is that he's dangerous and you should stay away from him at all times," Shikaku said in the same tone he used earlier.

"Is that any way to respect the Yondaime's dying wish," Shikamaru snapped, actually sounding angry for once. All the occupants of the room were shocked at the tone and words Shikamaru just used.

"Where did you hear that," Shikaku asked as he narrowed his eyes at his son.

"I, along with Chouji, heard it as NARUTO, not _demon _or_ thing, _justNaruto, told Hinata that the Kyuubi no Yoko is sealed within him," Shikamaru said in a voice full of disgust. "Then do want to know what happened when Hinata actually accepted and hugged him? He cried Dad. He _actually_ broke down and cried. With the way this village has been treating him I'm surprised he hasn't snapped and killed everyone already. Oh, by the way, the reason Ino is in the hospital is because she went through his memories. Come on, Chouji, let's get out of here."

The occupants in the room couldn't help but be shocked at the way Shikamaru defended the "_demon spawn" _and also scared at the fact the treatment of Naruto would most likely cause anyone to snap and go on a killing spree. Silence descended on the room as the people in it began to reevaluate their opinion of the_ demon child. _

* * *

_Scene change no jutsu _

Naruto had finally been able to get a room for Ino after a lot of trouble from the nurses. He made sure that the straps holding her to the bed were secure in case she tried to anything that might be considered rash when she woke up. He only had to wait about fifteen minutes before Ino began to stir.

"Ooh, what happened," Ino asked trying to get a grip on where she was. Then the memories of Naruto's life came flooding back like a tsunami. The pain and loneliness was so great that she immediately reached down to grab a kunai to kill herself with. Only to find out that she was strapped in and couldn't move.

"Easy Ino," Naruto when he realized what she was trying to do. Ino's head immediately whipped around to look at Naruto.

"Is it all true, the treatment of the villagers, your mask, everything about the Kyuubi," she asked on the verge of tears.

"Yeah Ino, it's all true," Naruto answered solemnly.

"How do put up with it, all the hate, the beatings, the looks," Ino paused instantly at that thought as a memory of the things even her own parents did to him.

"I don't know I just do," Naruto answered. But this Naruto sounded a lot older than the Naruto that she was used to hearing. "You promise not to do anything rash if I take your straps off?"

Ino nodded and Naruto undid the straps. The two spent the next hour talking over Naruto's life. After that, Naruto let out a big yawn.

"Go home and get some rest, Naruto. After all, the emotional roller coaster ride you've been on today was no doubt very tiring," Ino ordered.

"Yes, nee-chan," Naruto replied before quickly run out the door to avoid being yelled at by Ino. But if he would have stayed, he would have seen a thoughtful look on Ino's face.

"Nee-chan? Does he really feel that comfortable around me? I hope so and I'm going to do my best to make up for the way I've treated him and earn that privilege," Ino thought aloud.

Shortly after she finished that statement her parents walked into the room madder than a Hornet.

"Ino, are you alright, sweetie? What did that _monster _do to you," Inoichi asked when he saw his daughter. This caused Ino to be confused.

"What monster are you talking about, Dad," Ino asked.

"That blonde haired kid from your class. I still can't believe that they let that _thing_ become a Shinobi," Ino's mom answered. That's when it dawned on Ino that Shikamaru and Chouji must have told them that her reason for being in the hospital had something to do with Naruto.

"First off, I would like it if you didn't refer to Naruto as monster or thing. That was why he was given a name you know and he hasn't done anything to warrant being called that. Which is more than I can say for the two of you. And secondly he didn't do anything," Ino stated with disgust as she remembered her parent's actions.

"The two of us? What do you mean by that and I know for fact that he's a monster. I can't tell you why but he is," Inoichi said quite adamantly.

"Answer this Mom, Dad," Ino demanded. "What would happen if someone grew up alone and was hated by every one except for one or two people? Then later, that same person finds out the reason for being hated and found out he had no control over that reason. Now what would happen if that person gained enough power to kill those who hated and shunned him?"

"What does that have to do with any going on right now," Mrs. Yamanaka asked.

"Just answer the question," Ino screamed.

"I think it would be fairly obvious to all of us that it would be almost guaranteed that that person would seek revenge and kill those that have wronged him," Inoichi stated hesitantly.

"Then why hasn't Naruto killed everyone in this village," Ino hissed with barely suppressed rage. Both elder Yamanakas paled at this statement.

"Wha-what d-do y-you m-mean, I-Ino," Inoichi asked doing a good impersonation of certain Hyuuga who shall remain nameless.

"Because I looked at Naruto's memories, that's the reason that I'm here. I can't believe what this village has done to an innocent child. I'd rather be an orphan than have parents that have been as cruel and inhumane as you two have. Now, get out of my sight I'm suppose to be resting," Ino told her with a glare of finality.

Ino's parents left their daughter's room with their head held down in shame. Ino settled down into bed positive that her parents were headed home to reevaluate their opinion of Naruto. She spent the next ten minutes mulling over everything that she had told her parents along with the bits and pieces of Naruto's memory. Ino had just started to calm down when Shikamaru, Chouji and Shino came into the room.

"Hey Ino, how are you feeling," Chouji asked.

"Alright I guess. What are you guys doing here," Ino asked.

"We have a few questions for Naruto about what we saw earlier today. Do you know where he is," Shikamaru asked with Chouji nodding his head in agreement.

"I also have questions about earlier," Shino added in the same monotone voice he always uses.

"I think he went home. He seemed pretty tired when he left earlier," Ino replied in a calm voice but in the inside she was sweating buckets hoping they weren't talking about when Naruto told Hinata about the Kyuubi.

"Maybe you can answer my questions then, Ino-san," Shino asked.

"What makes you think that I would be able to answer your questions Shino," Ino asked getting even more nervous.

"Based on what Shikamaru-san told me about the reason for you being here it is the logical conclusion that you used your family jutsu to look at Naruto's memories. Meaning that you also know the reason that he is hated," Shino elaborated.

"Shikamaru and I didn't see any one else in the clearing when we left. So, how do you know about that," Chouji asked narrowing his eyes.

"I'll let Shikamaru-san tell you," Shino said readjusting his glasses.

"Troublesome, Shino has all of his teammates tagged with a bug as a precaution and upon hearing Naruto's confession the bug went and told him what happened," Shikamaru drawled out.

"Since you guys already know what he told Hinata, I need to know what you think of Naruto now that you know about the Kyuubi," said with a glare that could freeze your soul.

"I think his treatment is highly illogical, unless they wish for him to go mad and kill every one. His behavior is even more illogical now that I know this information," Shino replied awing everyone in the room with how much he was speaking.

"Chouji and I have talked about and agreed that the way Naruto is treated is wrong. You know for once I've found that being angry about something isn't too troublesome," Shikamaru said looking at Ino with a serious face.

"Good, I'm glad we all agree. The only reason I'm going to answer your questions is because you already know most of it anyway but we can't talk about this to anyone else, agreed" Ino said.

The others in the room agreed with Ino and the party of four spent the next hour reevaluating everything they thought they knew about Naruto.

* * *

_Scene change no jutsu _

Naruto was drained when he finally made it back to his apartment. His physical training in the morning left somewhat tired physically but everything that had happened with Hinata and Ino left him mentally at the end of his rope.

With a couple of cups of ramen in him and a bit of "meditation", Naruto got ready for bed and went to sleep thinking that tomorrow couldn't be more emotionally draining than it was today.

* * *

FIN

**REVIEW or Smiley, Grinm, Jason, Freddy and Anko will force you to watch twenty-four hours of Lee and Gai- sensei's Training video, _You and your Youthfulness_. (I pity the fool.)**


	5. Chapter 5

**Chapter 5: Overload **

The next morning Naruto woke up feeling refreshed, mainly because Kyuubi had decided to forgo the usual night training to let Naruto rest mentally. He did his morning ritual of showering and stuffing his face full of ramen before he went off to his private training grounds to train.

He arrived at the training grounds ready to train. He started off with some light stretches and warm ups.

* * *

_Scene change no jutsu _

The Hokage, Kurenai, Asuma and Anko were standing in front of the Hokage tower. They had all agreed to meet there yesterday after Kurenai and Asuma had told their teams that they would not be training.

"All right, remember that we have no idea how good he might actually be. So make sure that you hide yourselves as best as you can. All right, move out," the Sandaime said to the group with him.

The group arrived shortly there after and hid themselves among the trees. They had agreed it would probably be wise to observe Naruto as he trained to try to get a general feel for how strong he was. They sat there and watched as he finished the last bit of his warm ups before Anko decided to make her appearance.

* * *

_Scene change no jutsu _

"Hey, what do we have here," said a gruff sounding voice.

Naruto turned to the source to find a light brown haired man of average height wearing a scratched out mist hitai-ite.

"Great, another assassin. So, which stupid villager hired you and what exactly did they say about me," Naruto asked as if this was an everyday occurrence, well, for him, at least. The others were dumbstruck at the way Naruto brushed this potential threat off.

"It doesn't matter why I'm here. Now that you've seen me I'm going to have to kill you, you little punk," said the disguised Anko as she took a handful of shuriken and threw them at Naruto.

Naruto rolled to the side to dodge and then charged his assailant throwing a punch toward his face when he was close enough. His opponent went off to the side to avoid the punch and size up the blonde. What nobody, except Naruto and Kyuubi, were ready for was the dent that Naruto left in a tree when his fist made contact with the tree behind the missing-nin.

"_Hot kuso on a stick, I guess Kurenai wasn't lying when she told us how strong this kid is," _Anko thought.

Meanwhile Naruto had his own thoughts on the matter, _"I can't use the Kirigakure no jutsu seeing as he's from mist and probably familiar with it."_

With that, he too took up a more defensive fighting stance. Anko was analyzing his stance and could tell it would need a lot of work but she wanted to see if he could do more than just dodge projectiles. So she took out a double fist full of shuriken and threw them at Naruto making sure that he would have to block them instead of dodge but how he blocked them caused Anko's mind to promptly shut down.

Naruto saw the projectiles coming and knew he would have to block. He activated his bloodline and created the Kubikiri Houcho and held it in front of him as a makeshift shield. Naruto saw his opponent suddenly freeze and knew that if he didn't finish this fight now the outcome could be unpleasant, to say the least.

The Hokage, along with Kurenai and Asuma, saw Anko suddenly freeze and then Naruto go in for the kill with his strange sword. The three quickly jumped down to stop Naruto from killing his new sensei.

"Naruto stop. He's not really an enemy," Sarutobi told Naruto as he held his sword arm. Naruto stopped and looked at the Hokage for an explanation.

"Hyuuga Hinata and Kurenai here came to my office after you left yesterday and told me about what happened at the clearing," The Hokage said as he let go of Naruto. "After talking it over with Anko, your new sensei over there, it was decided that we should make you think you were under an attack by a missing-nin to test your abilities. Although, I'm curious as to what would cause her to freeze the way she did."

It was about this time that the Henge dropped and Anko's brain started to work again. Her brain was now going a mile a minute with questions.

"I-it's not possible," Anko said barely coming out as a whisper but the others in the group heard her nonetheless.

"How's what not possible Anko," Kurenai asked never before seeing her friend so shocked before.

"H-how i-is it possible that he has Arashi's bloodline," Anko replied still in shock. That statement caught everyone's attention but none more so than the Sandaime Hokage's.

"I think it would be best if we continue this discussion in my office," Sarutobi stated. Everyone nodded as the Hokage teleported with Naruto and Kurenai did so with a shell shocked Anko while Asuma teleported himself.

* * *

_Scene change no jutsu _

Once everyone had settled in at the Hokage's office, Sarutobi asked, "Why would you say that Naruto has Arashi's bloodline, Anko? I thought his had to do with insane speed, not making a sword like that."

"Well Hokage-sama," Anko started. "You know how careful Arashi was about making sure that his enemies thought his _Hiraishin no jutsu _(Flying thunder god technique) was a jutsu that he made and wasn't a bloodline limit. One of the things that his clan as a whole kept an even tighter lid on was the fact that there was another stage to their bloodline, the Reiki-Rei (Soul or Spirit Aura), that allowed them to take the Reiki-Rei and have it turn into an exact copy of any sword that it came into contact with, including any of the swords special abilities."

"How do know about all of that," Asuma asked confused that she would know something that not even the Hokage would know.

"The only reason I know this is because Arashi and Rin felt that I should know if I was going to live with them, after that hebi-teme abandoned me," Anko told them spitting that last part out.

"Um, could you guys tell me… just a moment," Naruto turns his head, coughs and then tests his voice and then proceeds to continue. Although, while Naruto is doing this Kyuubi was scared out of his mind and preparing for the fourth great shinobi war as Naruto drew in breath.

"WHAT THE…We interrupt your regularly schedule story to save your mind from the curses that Naruto is saying. Thank you and have a nice day. SONOVA…Apparently we were wrong about Naruto being done with the curses. We apologize. IS GOING ON HERE!!!" Naruto screamed.

Once everyone regained their hearing ten minutes later Anko responded, "Arashi was the last of his clan. Meaning that he was your father but you probably know him better as the Yondaime Hokage."

Naruto's mind promptly shut down at upon hearing this information. Then again, so did everyone else's, including Kyuubi's. Ever so slowly Naruto's mind began to reboot and process the information. It now made since as to why the Yondaime chose him to be Kyuubi's jailor.

"Hey, if the Yondaime was my father then how come you never told me Oji-san," Naruto asked. This question managed to drag the Hokage out of his shock.

"Because I honestly didn't know Naruto," the Hokage explained. "During the attack, the portion of the hospital where you supposed to be was destroyed and everyone thought you died when it was destroyed. I just assumed that Arashi found another baby elsewhere in the hospital and used him."

"Only within the last couple of years have I begun to think that Arashi managed find you alive but with your mother leaving the village shortly after the attack from the grief of thinking that she had lost both of you, I had no way to confirm my suspicions. Normally that wouldn't be bad but all of your parents medical records were destroyed during Kyuubi's attack as well."

The mood in the room became very solemn hearing this.

"Hokage-sama," Anko spoke up. "Since Naruto is Arashi's son, I think it's only right if he moves in with me at the Kazama estate."

"I don't see any problem with it as long as it's okay with Naruto," The Sandaime stated.

"I don't have any problems with it," Naruto responded.

"Good" Sarutobi replied. "But for right now I don't want anyone else to know about Naruto's lineage. Arashi had enough enemies and I don't think the village is ready to find out they have been mistreating the son of the fourth Hokage. At least not until after the chunnin exams are over. Dismissed."

"Come on Naruto, let's go get your things and you can settle in at your new house," Anko said sounding genuinely happy.

* * *

_Scene change no jutsu _

Anko's happy mood about finding Arashi's son disappeared quickly when she arrived with Naruto at his apartment. To put it nicely, it was a dump. The front door looked like it was about to fall off its hinges and looked liked it had been kicked in several times. The inside wasn't any better. While suffering from lack of daily cleaning, the inside floor made you make sure you watched where you stepped, lest you fall through it.

There was graffiti all over the walls that Anko didn't even have to read to know what it said. The appliances in the kitchen along with the table, chairs and rest of the furniture in the house appeared to be broken or barely usable and his bed looked like it might actually be older than the Sandaime Hokage.

In Anko's opinion, rats didn't deserve to live in a place like Naruto's and she was glad he was getting out of there. It only took about five minutes for Naruto to grab a few pictures and other small trinkets and a change of clothes.

When questioned about his amount of things Naruto only told Anko that most of the shops wouldn't sell to him and those that did charged him an outrageous amounts of money for the worst things.

That's when it hit Anko like a ton of bricks, the reason why he had that awful orange jump suit, that everyone knew was a bad choice for shinobi attire, was because it was all the shops would sell him. It also led her to conclude that the reason he ate ramen so much wasn't because he liked it that much but because it was cheap.

Anko was sure of one thing; if she had her way heads would roll, starting with a lazy perverted jounin.

* * *

_Scene change no jutsu _

Naruto couldn't believe his eyes. The Kazama estate, located on the outskirts of the village, was huge. Not as big as the Uchiha or Hyuuga estates, but still quite large. The house itself was a blend of modern and traditional styles and could have sixty to seventy people live there rather comfortably. The part about the Kazama clan being secretive seemed to be true. Around the house were several acres of land full of large trees and several open fields, perfect for sparring and training.

"Will you pick up your jaw already, kid," Anko said look at the awestruck Naruto.

Naruto nodded dumbly as he followed her into the house. The room that Anko led him was easily the size of old apartment and the closet and bathroom were separate rooms! Just as he finished putting his stuff away, Anko walked into the room carrying in a scroll.

"Here, your dad wrote this for you before he left," Anko said sounding more subdued than normal. Naruto carefully took the scroll and began to read it.

_Dear Naruto,_

_If you're reading this, than the sealing of the Kyuubi was a success. I wish that I didn't have to seal it within you. Unfortunately, I couldn't find any other way to stop the beast. I only pray that the village has treated you as the hero you are and not the beast within you._

_As I write this, your mother is in labor and the doctors don't know if she will survive. I asked Miterashi Anko and my student Hatake Kakashi to keep an eye on you should anything happen to your mother. I must go now, for Kyuubi is drawing near. Know that I love you with all my heart and wish that I could be there to watch you grow._

_Your father_

_Kazama Arashi_

_Yondaime Hokage._

Anko decided that a silent retreat, to give Naruto some privacy, was in order. She could only imagine what it would be like to suddenly find out that your father was the one to make your life a living hell.

* * *

_Scene change no jutsu _

Anko braced herself for the barrage of questions that Naruto was bound to ask, as she saw him come downstairs.

"Anko-sensei, do you know who my mother is," asked a somber Naruto.

"Yeah, I do. We were actually pretty close. Her name is Rin, one of your father's former students. You know, your parents were one of the few people to treat me with any kindness after my former sensei, Orochimaru, abandoned me and become a missing-nin."

"Did you say Orochimaru," Naruto cut in becoming visibly angry.

"Yeah, what do you know about him," Anko asked raising an eyebrow.

Naruto sighed loudly and figured that if Anko was close to his parents and going to be his sensei he better tell her about what happened in wave, leaving out the parts about Upstairs.

"Now I have another reason to hate that teme's guts," Anko said after Naruto finished his story.

"Um Anko-sensei, did either you or Kakashi watch over me when I was little," Naruto asked.

"Yeah, I did when I could but I was gone on missions most of the time. I don't think Kakashi ever did though and with what he just did to you. I think a little payback is in order, don't you," Anko asked with a wicked gleam in her eyes.

"What do you have in mind," Naruto responded with the same glint in his eyes.

"Oh, we'll get to that later. Right now I think that we need to get you some new clothes that don't scream 'I'm over here kill me' and get you something to eat other than ramen okay," Anko said addressing Naruto's choice in clothing and food.

"Gee, yeah think. The only reason why I wear this is because this is all the shops in town will let me buy. Whenever I buy food the stores always overcharge me and make me take the worst products they have. Don't get me wrong I like Ramen a lot but when you've had that for every meal for the past eight years with few exceptions, it gets a little old," Naruto replied without much energy and confirming Anko's suspicions.

"I don't think that'll happen while I'm with you. Come on let's go," Anko said motioning to the door.

The pair went to an all in one ninja store that Anko liked. Oddly enough, at least to Naruto, the owners of the store that they went treated them as they would anyone else off the street. Naruto spent the next two hours going through the store and trying to find something that Naruto liked and was useable.

Naruto eventually decided to just get several dark colored pairs of his current outfit. He also got kunai and shuriken, which were actually useable. Naruto was ecstatic when he went to pay for the items and wasn't overcharged like usually.

Naruto and Anko stopped and got something to eat on their way home. Naruto, oddly enough, insisted that it not be ramen. So Anko introduced him to the utopia known as Dango. After their meal, they went home. Both Naruto and Anko were glad to be back home after shopping.

"So, what are we going to do now Anko-sensei," Naruto sad as he sat down on his living room couch.

"Well, let's go over what you'll be working on during your training," Anko said with a smirk. "Your taijutsu understandably needs work since no one was willing to teach you before. I have a friend that I'm sure would be willing to help you with kenjutsu and you need to work on your overall knowledge. When you have free time I would probably recommend looking at your father's scrolls about seals."

"Sounds good to me and, who knows, I might be able to find a way to help you with your curse seal while studying the scrolls," Naruto replied with a big grin. Remembering that Anko mentioned it while they were shopping.

But before Naruto could continue, the doorbell rang. Getting up, Anko went to answer the door.

"Hey, Kurenai. What brings you here," Anko asked.

"I just wanted to see how things were going with you and Naruto," Kurenai replied.

"Things are going pretty good. Hey if your not busy, I need to talk to you about helping me with something," Anko asked getting a look in her eyes that promised someone pain.

"Sure," Kurenai answered wondering what she was getting herself into.

For the rest of the day Naruto, Anko and Kurenai sat in the living room of the Kazama estate talking.

* * *

_Scene change no jutsu _

Hatake Kakashi was having a good day. He made sure to get up extra early, so he would be on time to his training session with Sasuke. He made his way toward the training grounds and decided a little reading was in order. After reading for a minute, he disturbingly found out that someone had replaced his little orange book with Maito Gai's little green book, _The Powerful Flames of Youthfulness_. Luckily for Kakashi, he always carried a back up copy of his favorite book, just in case.

But, somehow, the god of perversion had abandoned him today, for his back up copy of his book had also been replaced. However, this book was even worse than the little green book, for it was any Icha Icha fan's worst nightmare, _Gei Gei Utopia_.

Kakashi ran home as fast as he could to get one of his other books in order to get the images that would make Jiraiya quit writing his books for a month out of his head. He finally made it back to his house and reached for an Icha Icha book in his closet. But once again something or someone had conspired to keep him from his precious book. As soon as his hand touched one of his books, it triggered a genjutsu. This particular genjutsu would later go down in Konaha's history as the only triple S ranked technique that was never to be talked about or written down, **_EVER_**, by the order of the Sandaime Hokage.

For what it was We once again interrupt your regular scheduled story to save your sanity. For those … people... who want to know what the genjutsu was…let's just say it involved Orochimaru, his tongue and lacking certain necessities for appropriate public attire and for once we truly pity the fool. We now return you to your regularly scheduled story. The scream that Kakashi let out was heard all over Fire Country.

In a last ditch effort to save both his sanity and perversion, Kakashi ran into his living room and turned on the Icha Icha Paradise movie. To his dismay, someone had recorded Gai and Lee's "You and Your Youthfulness" movie over it. Even now, whenever this event is mentioned Kakashi turns into a pile of blubbering mush.

* * *

_Scene change no jutsu _

Kurenai, Naruto and Anko where currently laughing their heads off at the "punishment" they gave Kakashi for what he did to Naruto. It seems that putting a sadistic special jounin, a genjutsu mistress and a hyper active prankster in a room and then unleashing them upon an unsuspecting victim was not healthy for the victim, but a lot of fun to watch.

"H-here look at this one," Anko laughed as she passed around the pictures that they took during the prank they pulled on Kakashi.

"The look he had on his face when the genjutsu hit him. It was priceless," Kurenai laughed.

"Don't forget get to mention that we now have the ultimate blackmail material against him," Naruto choked out.

"Alright, as much fun as this is we need to move on to your training for today," Anko said still smiling. "I set some scrolls about your bloodline out for you in the library. I want to go and read them while I go talk to a friend about helping you learn kenjutsu."

Naruto nodded in understanding as Anko and Kurenai got up to leave. Naruto made his way through the house toward the library. The library itself was actually fairly large with a table in the middle of it for reading. Apparently, the Kazama clan had an extensive collection of both kenjutsus, sealing techniques and various other things. Naruto found the scrolls that Anko had set out for him on the table and began to read.

_The Kazama bloodline, the Reiki-Rei, is able to copy any sword it comes into contact with; this includes special abilities of the sword, and is feared by both the Hyuuga and Uchiha clans. The reason they fear it is because when using the Reiki-Rei a thin film of chakra surrounds the body that has it activated. This thin layer of chakra prevents the Sharingan from seeing how the chakra is moving inside the body making it impossible to tell how the chakra will be used for movement eliminating the prediction capabilities of it and if the Reiki-Rei is used on the hands it prevents the Sharingan from being able to copy any jutsus._

"_Hah, take that, Sasuke-teme,"_ Naruto shouted in his mind.

_That same film of chakra also prevents the Byakugan from seeing the inner chakra coils and with practice can also be used to negate Jyuuken strikes. The area in which you are able to use the Reiki-Rei can be expanded and controlled, with practice and training, to the point in which you are able to cover your whole body with it simultaneously. Also with practice and training, the Reiki-Rei can be made to look like nothing more than the occasional distortion in the air. When using the Reiki-Rei in this fashion, not even the Byakugan or Sharingan can tell that you are using it. You cannot use the Reiki-Rei to make a sword and protect yourself from the Hyuuga and Uchiha bloodlines at the same time._

Naruto sat there digesting all the information he just received about his new bloodline as he continued reading the scroll.

_The Kazama clan has always been careful to guard the information about the Reiki-Rei being able to copy swords and is only known by a few people outside of the clan. The rest about the Reiki-Rei is fairly well documented and known. As such, we have told everyone that the blades we use are like the chakra blade Raijin of the Nidaime Hokage. While, in truth, the handles that we use are false allowing us to create the blade using our bloodline while deceiving those around us._

At this point, Naruto knew that he had a lot of reading and training in the next two months.

* * *

_Scene change no jutsu _

Anko was glad that she had found Gekko Hayate in one of the first training grounds she looked. He was of average height and build and appeared to be knocking on deaths door, if his cough was any indication. But his kenjutsu was second to none on the village.

"Hey, Hayate, what you doing," Anko asked cheerily.

"Not much. Now, what is it that you want Anko," He asked between coughs.

"Will you stop with the cough? I know your faking it and what makes you think I want something," Anko asked raising an eyebrow.

"Because the only time that you ask me how I'm doing while not on a mission is when you want something," he replied sounding almost bored.

"Fine, you caught me. I want to help me train a kid in kenjutsu," Anko said getting to the point.

"And why should I," Hayate asked.

"Well, if you agree to this he'll be able to give you access to one of the largest collections of kenjutsu techniques in Konaha," Anko answered vaguely.

"Who is it that I would be training and how would they be able to grant me this access like you say they can," Hayate asked curious as to who this could be.

"I can only tell you if you promise not to tell anyone else and if you do you will be breaking an S class law, understand," Anko said in a very serious voice.

"Oookaay," Hayate said slowly. Anko definitely had his full attention now.

"You know him as Uzamaki Naruto but it was recently discovered that his name should be Kazama Naruto," Anko told him while looking straight into his eyes. Of all the things that Anko could have told him, this was the one that came straight out of the proverbial left field. It was fortunate that Hayate was not as frail as he looked otherwise he would have keeled over dead.

"Are you serious? If he's a Kazama that means his father was the Fourth," he practically yelled.

"Yes and yes. Now, will you help train him or not," Anko asked once again sounding serious.

"I would be honored to train the son of the Yondaime. The techniques are just a nice bonus in my opinion," Hayate replied with respect.

"If your going to do it because of who his father is than you can forget about training him," Anko snapped back at Hayate's statement.

"Wha-why," Hayate stuttered out.

"Naruto was to be recognized for who he is, not who his father is. That attitude will make him a great ninja one day," Anko replied not quite as forcefully this time.

"I think you misunderstand my reasons, Anko," Hayate said releasing his breath. "His father was a well known sword master and, if he is anything like him, he will have the potential to become just as good as him. I probably should have said it would be an honor to teach someone with such potential."

"If that's the case, could you stop by the Kazama estate to train him in the afternoons," Anko asked satisfied with the explanation of his statement.

"Sure, I'll see you tomorrow," Hayate said with a nod.

With that Anko left, heading back to the Kazama estate.

* * *

_Scene change no jutsu _

Anko made it back to the Kazama estate and set about looking for Naruto. She found him still in the library focused completely on the scrolls in front of him. Anko got a look in her eye that Naruto would later dub "the look of impending doom."

"Hi," Anko yelled scaring the devil out of Naruto. It took ten minutes for Naruto's heart rate to return to normal. "What you are looking at kid?"

"Don't. Do. That. AGAIN. As to what I looking at, they were some medical jutsus I found while looking for some stuff about sealing techniques," Naruto replied still holding his chest.

"Ah, those would be your mother's scrolls," Anko said adopting a softer look. "She was quite the medic Nin before she left. Many said that the only one that was better was the legendary sannin Tsunade. Nobody from Konaha has seen or heard from her since she left. I wonder what her skills are like now but enough of that. It probably would be a good idea if you were to learn a few of them while you're training."

"Why? Kyuubi heals all my wounds. So I'll never need to use any of them on myself," Naruto asked with his face looking puzzled.

"True, but what about your teammates? You have a lot of chakra, Naruto. You can heal a lot of injuries with it if you learn how to and just because you may not use a jutsu, it doesn't mean that the jutsu is useless," Anko lectured.

"All right, already. So, what did you have to go do," Naruto asked.

"Nothing much. I just found someone to teach you kenjutsu, as long as you let him use the Kazama library," Anko said nonchalantly.

"Really? Who is it," Naruto asked jumping up and down, completely missing the part about the library.

"His name's Gekko Hayate. He may look sick, but it's mostly an act. He also happens to be one of Konaha's best sword users," Anko rattled off.

The person that was going to train him in kenjutsu awed Naruto. Naruto then told Anko about what he found about his bloodline and how his Kage Bunshin no jutsu was going to be a big help in learning everything he wanted to in the next two months. Anko, on the other hand, stopped listening when she heard about what he planned to use to help himself train.

She immediately started to lecture him on the dangers of that jutsu but Naruto was quick to explain how he had discovered how to get around those dangers. The next point that Anko brought up, Naruto had to agree with. She pointed out that even though he had found a safe way to use the technique, he still couldn't use more than one clone to do more than read until he was actually using what he read. The reason is simple, you have to learn step one before you can move on to step two.

Taking seals as an example, she told him that you have to learn the basic principles of sealing before you could actually begin to do any kind of seal, the same thing applied for medical jutsu, taijutsu and kenjutsu. Once it was explained to him, Naruto knew that Anko was right. Kage Bunshin no jutsu was meant for gaining experience in something that you already knew rather than learning how to do something.

After that, Naruto and Anko talked for the rest of the day about what his training schedule would look like for the next two months. To put it bluntly, he probably wouldn't have time to do anything outside of training other than eating or sleeping.

* * *

FIN

I hope hat answers your questions about Naruto's bloodline. If not, the ASK. Have a nice day.

**NOW, REVIEW or Smiley, Grinm, Jason, Freddy and Anko will force you to watch twenty-four hours of Lee and Gai- sensei's Training video, _You and your Youthfulness_. (I pity the fool.)**


	6. Chapter 6

**Chapter 6: Play Ball!!!**

Naruto was currently wondering aimlessly around Konaha thinking about his life for the last two months. As he walked, he realized just how long it's been since he's seen anything outside of the Kazama estate. He felt a lot more confident in his taijutsu. He was amazed at how things flowed easier, smoother when you had your body in a certain position compared to another. His kenjutsu was also a lot better now. Anko had been right; Hayate was a top-notch sword master and a good teacher to boot. He still remembered the fun he had freaking out Hayate with his bloodline.

The look on his face was priceless. Naruto had also learned a lot about his bloodline and sealing techniques. He still didn't have much of a clue as to what the curse seal did, but he also wasn't able to devote the effort into learning seals that he would have preferred. He had even managed to grow a little taller. These thoughts were scattered as he turned around and came face to face with a square rock.

"You know, Konahamaru, rocks aren't naturally square and they certainly don't have eye holes," Naruto said with an amused chuckle. A loud bang, a lot of smoke and a rather silly interdiction later, Konahamaru, Moegi and Udon stood before Naruto calling themselves the Konahamaru corps.

"I think you guys need to cut back on the smoke powder next time all right," said a still amused Naruto.

"Yeah, sure thing boss. Hey, can you play ninja with us," asked an excited Konahamaru. Moegi and Udon looked equally excited as well.

Alas, Sakura's banshee voice was heard before he could answer, "Why would a ninja want to play ninja? Wait, I guess it would do good for Naruto to play ninja seeing as his ninja skills are so bad."

"Hey, don't insult Naruto –niisan you ugly, big fore headed girl," Konahamaru shouted back at Sakura.

Naruto didn't know a whole lot about girls but he definitely knew it was a bad idea to call Sakura ugly or comment about the size of her fore head.

"Um, Konahamaru, I'd start running right now if you wish to live to see tomorrow," Naruto whispered into Konahamaru's ear.

Konahamaru might not be the brightest bulb in the pack, but with the sudden temperature drop and Sakura wearing the look of impending doom, Konahamaru wisely decided to take Naruto's advise and hightailed it out of there. Sakura wasn't too far behind him. Naruto was about to leave wishing Konahamaru the best of luck when an angry shout of 'hey brat that hurt' came from around the corner that Konahamaru just went around.

Coming around the corner, Naruto saw a kid around his age wearing cat like pajamas, something wrapped in bandages on his back, and make-up on his face holding Konahamaru up by the front of his shirt. Standing a little ways behind was a girl about the same age who had her blonde hair done up into four ponytails and what appeared to be a large fan on her back.

"I would put him down if I were you," Naruto said addressing the 'make-up boy'.

"I'm not going to get involved in this Kankuro," stated the blonde female.

"Shut up Temari, no one asked you and why should I put ths runt down instead of giving him the lesson he deserves," Kankuro shouted out.

"Other than the fact that you are Shinobi visiting from another nation and holding the grandson of the current Hokage," Naruto stated calmly.

Before Kankuro could do anything, a rock flew through the air and hit his hand, causing him to drop Konahamaru. The group turned to see where the rock came from and found an arrogant Sasuke sitting in a tree tossing and catching rocks in his hand.

"Kankuro, stop, you are an embarrassment to our village," came a new voice so cold that it caused everyone to shudder.

In a whirl of sand, a short redhead appeared hanging upside down on the other side of the tree from Sasuke. Naruto had no clue who this guy was but one thing was apparent, Kankuro and Temari were scared to death of him.

Kankuro was in the middle of stuttering out an excuse when the redhead continued, "Don't do it again or I will kill you."

He then warped down in between Kankuro and Temari before turning around and walking off.

"Hey, What's your name," Sasuke shouted.

"Gaara of the sand. Yours," Gaara asked in the same dead monotone voice that he used earlier.

"Sasuke, Uchiha Sasuke," the self proclaimed avenger replied.

"I look forward to seeing you at the Chunnin exams," Gaara said as he walked off with his teammates.

As everyone walked off, Naruto began evaluating what just happened. Of course, you had Sasuke who had to be the baka he is and interfere. Sakura who just stood by and yelled about how great her 'Sasuke-kun' was. Doll-face was just plain weird. The red head just plain crept him out for some reason. Then, you have the blonde girl. She wouldn't have been all that bad if it wasn't for her two teammates. Naruto decided that that was enough thinking and decided to enjoy the rest of his free time before the Chunnin exams.

* * *

_Scene change no jutsu _

Naruto didn't believe his day could get any worse but, alas, he forgot to knock on wood. The day started with a firm warning from Anko that if he saw any Jounin in the exam that he knew to act like he didn't know them or the last two months would seem like a walk in the park. He decided to wear the dreaded orange jumpsuit again to keep people from asking questions. Then he got to the academy just to wait for Sasuke and Sakura for an hour. Next Sasuke has to go and announcing to all about the genjutsu on the second floor meaning that all the weak teams that it would've gotten rid of would now be in the exam. Even the bushy-browed freak, Rock Lee, in green spandex was tolerable.

Although, watching Rock Lee wipe the floor with Sasuke wasn't too bad. No, what took made Naruto's day absolutely horrifying was the one man that Anko told him if he ever saw him he was supposed to run for the hills, Maito Gai, and now, unfortunately, he knew why.

"LEE"

"GAI-SENSEI"

"LEE"

"GAI-SENSEI"

"Will you two knock it off already," Naruto shouted trying to preserve his sanity.

"Ah, so you must be Kakashi's youthful students," Gai asked appearing before the group. Team 7 had one thought, "W_ow, he's fast"._

"Huh, you say something," Naruto asked.

"AAAHHH, you have already acquired Kakashi's hip attitude," Gai said with tears streaming down his face. Truth be told Naruto really didn't hear Gai. Who would after having to listen to Gai and mini-Gai scream each other's name at the top of their lungs while they hugged each other?

"Right, we'll be going now," Sakura said already freaked out.

"Yes, that would be wise. May your youthfulness shine bright during the exam," Gai said using his indoor voice, which meant that he was shaking the academy's foundations.

The group parted ways, Lee to look for his teammates, team 7 towards the exam room and Gai to wherever he goes.

Team 7 found Kakashi sitting a windowsill outside the exam room. Sakura was shocked and so was Naruto.

"Kakashi-sensei, why aren't you reading your book," Sakura asked still shocked. All three Gennin noticed him shiver in response to that question.

"Well, it's a long story but it's good that all three of you showed up," Kakashi said as he got up. Seeing confusion he continued, "The exam has to be taken in teams of three. If one of you didn't show up then the other two wouldn't be able to take the exam."

Naruto however was having his own thoughts. _"Anko-sensei already told me that. I can't wait to tell Anko-sensei how effective our 'punishment' was though."_

Kakashi said his speech and watched as his Gennin went into the exam room with their heads held high. His face was passive but his thoughts were far from calm.

"_I wonder if their ready. I know Sasuke is since I've been personally training him for the past two months. Sakura should be all right since she uses her head and intellect. Naruto is the only one that I truly have to worry about I guess. He is the dead last of his class. Oh well, what's done is done." _With that, he left heading toward the waiting room for the Jounin senseis.

* * *

_Scene change no jutsu _

Team 7 was stunned at the sheer number of Gennin that would be participating in the exam. They were glancing around the room until they heard someone calling them from their right. They looked and saw the rest of the rookie nine walking towards them.

"Hey guys, how are you," Ino asked as the groups met.

"I see you've given up on Sasuke-kun, Ino-pig," remarked Sakura.

"What did you say, fore head-girl," Ino snapped back. While Kiba was eager to get a front row seat of the oncoming battle of the wits, even though one of them was unarmed, Naruto decided to make a hasty retreat. In doing so he noticed Hinata in the back of the group and decided now would be as good a time as any to thank her properly for what she did two months ago.

"Hey, Hinata. Listen I just want to thank you for what you did when I told you about Fuzzy," Naruto said not really sure what he should say.

It took Hinata a moment to figure out who Fuzzy was but once she did she immediately responded, "Th-that's alright, N-Naruto-kun, I was g-glad I could h-help."

"I know, I just wanted to make sure you knew how thankful I was. So, what do think about the Chunnin exams so far," Naruto asked changing the subject.

"I-I'm not sure if I-I'm strong e-enough now that I-I'm lo-looking at all the Gennin h-here," she replied lowering her head in doubt.

"You know, a great and powerful warrior once said, 'Vi veri veniversum vivus vici' right before he died. Roughly translated it means by the power of truth I, while living, have conquered the universe," Naruto said trying to cheer Hinata up.

"W-what did h-he mean, 'by the power of truth,'" Hinata asked confused.

"Only a few people have ever managed to figure out what he meant by those words and those that have, have always died after saying that they finally understood what he meant. Although, people have said that there are many truths out there. So, I guess the question shouldn't be 'by the power of truth' it should be 'what is the truth' and that, Hinata-chan, is something that we all must figure out for ourselves," Naruto said sagely.

Now, Shikamaru and Shino had been listening in on Naruto's talk with Hinata and both were amazed at the wisdom on Naruto's words. Hinata nodded as she began to think about what Naruto just told her. While Naruto was try to cheer her up failed, at least he made her think of something other than the exams for now. It was about this time that there were several puffs of smoke erupted in the room.

"Alright maggots, my name is Morino Ibiki. So, settle down and shut up," Ibiki yelled from the front of the room.

Ibiki instructed everyone to draw a number from a box and then sit down in the corresponding seat. While Naruto waited, he idly looked around to see if he recognized anyone. He was quite happy to see Haku among the examiners. He was even happier to realize that his chair was going to be right next to Hinata. Naruto paid close attention to the rules of the exam and decided to go over them with Fluffy.

"_So, basically whoever gets caught cheating will lose two points and for every wrong answer you get you lose a point. The only problem is, is that these questions are difficult and their answers are quite long and complex. Then there's the fact that the tenth question won't be given out till there's fifteen minutes left in the test. Hey Kyuubi, do you think you can answer these?" _

"_I'm an age old creature, of course I can," _Kyuubi said as he nodded.

"_If that's the case, I'm just going to wait and answer the last question and be done with it. And since this is so troublesome, as Shikamaru would say, I'll just take a nap till then,"_ Naruto then put his head down on his desk and went to sleep.

Most of the people in the room looked at Naruto's odd behavior and wondered what exactly he was doing. However, they put these thoughts aside until they were done with the exam. So, the exam went with people figuring out that the needed to cheat in order to pass.

People started getting caught cheating one too many times and then were asked to leave along with their teammates. The room was so quite that you could hear a pen drop. Ibiki was glad that twenty minutes had passed and nothing that he didn't expect had happened but, alas, he to forgot to knock on wood.

For at that time Naruto decided to let out a snore. This drew the attention of everyone in the room and most thought how in the world could this kid fall asleep in the middle of this test.

But none of them were prepared for what he said, "Oh, come on, Hinata, stop teasing me and get that top off so I can get at what's inside."

This caused mixed reactions; most of the males in the room struggled not to die of a nosebleed, the girls blushed and wanted to kill the blonde pervert and released a small amount of killing intent, some males had no idea what he was talking about like Gaara. However other males, like a certain grass nin and a glasses wearing leaf nin, who knew what he was talking about but didn't respond, well, let's just not go there. It should also be noted that Sasuke didn't react either…

Hinata, well, she was thanking Kami that she didn't pass out at Naruto's comment.

Kyuubi, on the other hand, was able to feel the killing intent and was laughing so hard on the ground he was crying. The reason for this is because unlike everyone else in the room he knew what Naruto was dreaming about. Naruto was dreaming about Hinata cooking him food and refusing to take the top off the pan so he could eat.

Everyone had recovered from Naruto's sleep talking incident, except Hinata, by the time Ibiki decided to give the last question.

"Alright, maggots, listen up," Ibiki yelled waking Naruto and getting everyone's attention. "It's time for the tenth question. Now, before I give it to you I need to tell you a few additional rules. First off, you can choose if you want to take the question or not. If you answer it wrong or if you don't take the question you and your teammates fail."

"What! With those kinds of rules of course we'll take the question," Temari shouted.

"Quite! I wasn't done explaining. Those that answer the question incorrectly will be bared from any future Chunnin exams for life. If you quit you can take the exam next time," Ibiki said in a calm voice.

"What! You can't do that! Other people have taken the exam before us," Kiba protested.

"Too bad. I wasn't in charge of the exams prior to this and what I say is law right now," Ibiki replied. "Now, who wants to quit?"

It took a little while for the first hand to go up but as soon as it did many teams started to give up as well. Naruto was annoyed. It had been a good minute since the last team quit and Ibiki still hadn't given him the question.

"I did not wake up so I could sit here and listen to you spout out a bunch of rules. Then, sit and watch as a bunch of people, who aren't willing to risk it all, get up and quit," Naruto yelled looking right at Ibiki.

"_I knew I should have knocked on wood earlier. That's twice that this kid has broken the atmosphere that I've created,"_ Ibiki thought to himself. "Fine, this is your last chance to quit," Ibiki said in response. "Well if your not going to quit all that's left for me to do is to congratulate on passing the first exam."

"What! What do you mean we pass? What about the tenth question and the first nine questions," Temari asked standing up.

"The first nine," Ibiki started. "Were to test your information gathering skills. Those who cheated poorly are not fit to be Chunnin. Good Information can lead to the success of a mission, fight or even a war, while bad information can lead to ruin. And the purpose of the tenth question was to see if you would be able to 'risk it all' like the blonde kid said. This decision is made when you decide to take a mission or not. People who can't put everything on the line and play it safe aren't worthy of being ninja, let alone Chunnin."

Naruto just sat there nodding his head in agreement. Then he noticed a brownish looking ball heading toward the window of the classroom. The ball crashed through the window and the unfurled to reveal a banner. That Naruto could only groan at.

"Don't start celebrating yet. My name's Mitarashi Anko, the proctor for the second exam. I see you're getting soft, Ibiki. You left twenty-six teams," Anko announced.

"Well, maybe we just have outstanding candidates this year," Ibiki replied moving the banner out of his way.

"It doesn't matter either way. By the end of the second exam, at least half of them will be eliminated," Anko said with her smile of impending doom.

* * *

_Scene change no jutsu _

Anko had led the group of Chunnin hopefuls to a forest surrounded by a tall fence.

"Alright listen up. This place is training area 44 A.K.A. the forest of death," Anko stated. Naruto could have made a comment but chose to sit back and enjoy the torture… err show. "Now, your objective will be to make to the tower at the center of the forest within five days. Along with both a heaven and an earth scroll. After you sign these forms, to make sure that if you get killed your village doesn't blame leaf, you will receive one of the two scrolls in that shack."

Naruto signed his formed and gave it to Sasuke to turn in, while he set down and began to make fakes of the two scrolls. Sasuke came back with their scroll as Naruto finished making the fakes. As they waited for the test to begin, Naruto asked Sasuke if he could see their heaven scroll. Once Sasuke handed Naruto the scroll, Naruto quickly switched it with a fake and sealed the real one inside another scroll, making sure that his teammates didn't know he switched them.

Soon after the gates to the forest opened and the second exam began. They stopped about a half hour later to take a break and decide what they should do to get the other scroll. While they were talking, Naruto sensed that they were being watched. He excused himself saying that he needed to go the bathroom so he could take care of the spy. His comment thoroughly disgusting Sakura was a nice bonus though. Soon after Naruto left the group the nin attacked. It didn't take long for Naruto to knock him unconscious, tie him up, find that he wasn't carrying the scroll, actually go to the bathroom and return to the others.

It was later that evening while they were taking another break, that Naruto saw an incoming attack and pushed his teammates out of the way. When the attack, a blast of wind, hit it blew Naruto away. Naruto hit the ground hard. When he finally found his bearings, a giant snake was about to swallow him whole. Thinking quickly, he used a launcher on right forearm to shoot the fake collapsible hilt for Kubikiri Houcho.

Activating his bloodline, he quickly chopped off the head of the snake. But what surprised both Naruto and Kyuubi was the fact that the snake disappeared in a cloud of smoke. Both of them knew that it meant that Orochimaru must be near by and was probably the one that sent the wind at his team. Naruto immediately sped off through the forest to find his teammates.

When Naruto found his teammates they were looking at a man that was rising up out of the head of a very large snake. Instantly both his and Kyuubi's angered flared to unimaginable levels.

"YOU," Naruto shouted as he began to draw upon Kyuubi's chakra.

Orochimaru, who looked like a certain grass nin, looked toward the sound of the voice and was surprised to see a mass of orange and yellow charging at him. He jumped away as Naruto came down looking to kill him with his clawed hands. Sneaking a peek at the branch he was on, he was startled to find several very deep claw marks in it.

The boy that he recognized as the Kyuubi vessel was quite powerful in his opinion. Orochimaru slipped in under Naruto's attack and hit him in the chest with a strong punch. He was surprised when Naruto got right back up. Orochimaru knew that he needed to do this fast if he was going to accomplish his goal.

He rolled up his sleeve exposing a tattoo on his arm. Smearing some of his blood across it, he made some hand seals and slammed his palm into the tree branch, creating a large cloud of smoke. When the smoke cleared, it revealed a snake even larger than the one Naruto had beaten earlier.

Orochimaru thought that the snake would be able to get rid of Naruto quickly but the boy's speed was proving to be faster than that of the snakes. Even when the snake managed to land a blow, Naruto would get up shortly after to start the process again. Orochimaru decided to switch tactics. He had noticed that Naruto was trying to keep their fight away from his teammates. Figuring Naruto would try to protect them, he ordered the snake attack to Sasuke. Sure enough, when the snake was about to hit Sasuke Naruto jumped in front of the snake. Orochimaru was glad that his plan worked but what he didn't expect was for Naruto to actually be able to stop the snake in its tracks.

Orochimaru came to the conclusion that Naruto's power was coming from Kyuubi. So using his snake like tongue to hold Naruto, he lifted up the vessel's shirt and he added a five point seal to the Yondaime's seal. The seal had the desired effect. It cut off the flow of Kyuubi's chakra to Naruto. The last thing that Naruto heard was the evil chuckling of Orochimaru.

* * *

_Scene change no jutsu _

Naruto wasn't sure how long he'd been unconscious. What he did know was that he felt extremely weak. He decided to ask Kyuubi if he knew what was wrong but he only got silence in response to his question. Now he was worried. Whatever that snake-teme had done to him not only made him weak but also cut off all communication with Kyuubi. Slowly he registered that someone trying to wake him up.

"Whoa, what happened," Naruto asked looking around. Naruto saw teams 7, 10 and Lee's teammates standing around in a clearing.

"I'll answer that," Ino said as she continued to cut Sakura's hair.

She explained how after his fight with Orochimaru Sakura brought him and Sasuke to a shelter at the edge of the clearing. There, she was attacked by a group of sound nin and then Lee showed up to help with team 10 arriving later to help. How when Lee's teammates were about to help when Sasuke woke covered in weird markings.

"And then after Sasuke beat them they left leaving behind their earth scroll," Ino finished.

"Good. That means we can head to the tower now," Naruto said nodding his head.

"Baka! Didn't you hear Ino? That freaky snake guy stole our scroll," Sakura yelled.

"No he didn't," Naruto replied smugly.

"What do you mean he didn't," Sakura asked confused.

"I switched our real scroll with a fake one when I looked at the scroll before the exam. Now, come on, let's get to the tower," Naruto stated in the same smug voice.

It took team 7 almost a full day to reach the tower. They walked inside and found a room with the saying on the wall.

"Okay, now what are we suppose to do," Sakura asked.

"Well, since we're in the tower. Let's open the scrolls," Naruto suggested.

Nodding, Sasuke took out the earth scroll while Naruto took out the heaven scroll. When they opened the scrolls, Naruto immediately recognized the pattern on the scrolls as a summon seal. Yelling Naruto threw his scroll down and Sasuke followed Naruto's example. When the smoke cleared Iruka was standing there and looking down at the group.

"Congratulations on passing the second part of the chunnin exams," Iruka said with a smile.

"Hey, Iruka-sensei, do you know what the scroll on the wall means," Sakura asked.

At this point, Naruto tuned Iruka out, as he already knew what the saying meant. Iruka then led them to what looked like an arena where all the other Gennin were gathered. Naruto only half listened as the Hokage explained the true reason behind the chunnin exams. Naruto really wasn't surprised when someone came forward and said that there would have to be a preliminary round before the third part of the exam since to many passed the second part this time. It did surprise him that Hayate was the one that was chosen to be the proctor for the fights.

Naruto went up to the balcony with the rest of the participants and the Jounin sensei. When Sasuke's name came up on the board to fight, Naruto decided it would a good idea to go talk to the team from Sound.

"Why do you guys follow Orochimaru," Naruto asked.

"It's none of your business runt," the one with bandages on his face snapped back.

"I know. I was just curious if you guys knew that you mean less than cannon fodder to Orochimaru and if you want to get away from him come and talk to me," Naruto calmly stated as he walked away. As he made his way back, Naruto noticed that people were looking at him.

So he decided to ask the intelligent question, "What?"

"Ah man, I can't believe that are luck was good enough to get to fight this idiot in the preliminaries," Kiba said pointing towards Naruto. Naruto looked toward the billboard to see that he was to fight Kiba. So he just shrugged and walked down to the arena.

Kurenai decided to give Kiba some advice for his match, "Kiba, do NOT underestimate him okay?"

"Yeah, yeah," Kiba said over his shoulder as he walked to the arena.

Naruto and Kiba faced each other, as they got ready to fight. Kiba was confident that he would win easily. Naruto normally wouldn't be worried at all but with what ever that snake freak did to him making him feel weak, he was a little worried. Hayate stood between the two boys and announced the start of the match.

"Ha, this will be so easy I'll finish it in one punch. I don't even need to use Akamaru," Kiba taunted.

"Are you going to fight or talk me into submission," Naruto replied.

Kiba took exception to the comment. After using the _Shikyaku no Jutsu_ (beast imitation), he charged Naruto intent on making good his boast. Naruto saw the attack coming but was to slow to avoid it completely. The punch sent Naruto flying back into the wall and created a small dust cloud covering where he landed.

"I told you I'd beat him in one punch," Kiba boasted. The Jounin who knew how strong Naruto were confused by what happened. They knew Naruto should have been able to dodge the attack.

"Kiba, if that's all the power you can put into a punch then you better use that mutt to help you," Naruto stated from within the dust cloud.

"Fine, come on, Akamaru, let's show what we got," Kiba yelled. He then ran forward and threw a couple of smoke bombs in front of Naruto to surround him in smoke.

"_Training with Zabuza is really paying off right now,"_ Naruto thought from within the smoke. _"Let's see now. Kiba is attacking me inside the smoke while Akamaru is waiting for me to jump out of it so he can attack. Now, Let's see if Kiba likes this plan."_

Everyone had been watching the cloud of smoke wondering what was going on inside of it. When the smoke finally cleared, everyone saw Akamaru on top of a beaten Naruto.

"Way to go, Akamaru. We showed him," Kiba said as he ran toward Akamaru. When Akamaru jumped up to his master and did the unthinkable, he bit Kiba on the arm.

"What the heck is wrong with you Akamaru," Kiba asked franticly trying to shake the dog off of him. After a few seconds, Akamaru let go and was enveloped in a cloud of smoke a few yards away from Kiba. The smoke cleared to reveal a gagging and spitting Naruto.

"Ah, you really need to was to take a bath and wash your clothes a few dozen times Kiba. You taste horrible," Naruto said between gags.

"Hey! What did you do to Akamaru you punk," Kiba shouted.

Immediately there came a whine from the side of the room. Kiba looked over to see a Naruto clone sitting over there holding Akamaru.

"Let him go," Kiba shouted almost foaming at the mouth.

"And why should I," was Naruto's short question.

"Fine, let's kick it up a notch," Kiba stated. He reached into his bag and two out two small pills. He threw one to Akamaru. Who promptly ate it. His fur turned red and the clone that was holding him was completely destroyed. Kiba also ate one himself. As soon as Akamaru jumped on Kiba's back, Kiba immediately called out _Jujin Bunshin _(beast human clone). With a puff of smoke, Akamaru turned into a copy of Kiba. The pair jumped in the air and turned into to cyclones with a cry of _Gatsuuga _(double piercing fang).

Naruto immediately had to start dodging the attacks from Akamaru and Kiba. He was only ably to dodge them by a very narrow margin and his bloodline wouldn't help because while he was dealing with one of them the other would attack him from behind. After what seemed like forever to Naruto, he came up with a plan.

"Hey Kiba, you like playing in smoke do you? Well then, let's see how you handle this," Naruto said as he dropped a couple of his own smoke bombs. Once again, the arena was covered in smoke. Only this time when it cleared, there were three copies of Kiba.

"You really think a Henge is going to help you? Please you're scent is easy to pick up," Kiba stated as he charged one of the clones. When Kiba's fist came into contact with the clone, it went flying through the air. The lone finally stopped and with a puff of smoke it revealed…Akamaru?

"What the? If that's Akamaru then you must be Naruto," Kiba said as he went and hit the other clone. But this clone also turned out to be Akamaru.

"Know how your jutsu works or it might be used against you," Naruto stated as he dropped his Henge of Akamaru. Kiba was livid but most of the higher ranked nin present could only agree with Naruto's statement.

Naruto shot the false handle for his sword out as Kiba began to charge him blindly. The few nin that knew of Naruto's bloodline had there own thoughts as to what was going on.

"_I see. He got rid of Akamaru so he could use his bloodline against Kiba and not have to worry about someone attacking him from behind," _the Sandaime deduced.

"_I told Kiba not to underestimate him," _Kurenai mentally reprimanded.

"_Finally someone's going to shut him up," _Hayate thought.

"_I wonder if they have crackerjacks in here for sale," _Asuma pondered.

"_The batter steps up to the plate," _Anko thought as Naruto gripped the false hilt of his sword with both hands.

"_Here's the wind up and the pitch,"_ Anko continued mentally as Kiba took off towards Naruto and then jumped for his attack.

"_It's a hit and it's going, going, gone," _Anko cheered mentally as she watched Naruto activated his bloodline, swing it, hit Kiba, and then watch Kiba fly through the air right onto one of the arena's lights.

Kiba landed on the arena floor unconscious, slightly smoking and twitching at random.

"Kiba is unable to battle; the winner is Uzamaki Naruto," Hayate coughed out.

While Kiba was dragged out of the arena by the medic nin, Naruto made his way to where the rest of the participants where waiting. Just after he sat down Hinata came over to him.

"H-here Naruto-kun. I-it's medical c-cream to h-help with your wounds," Hinata stuttered.

"Thanks, Hinata," Naruto replied as he took the cream and began to apply it.

Almost everyone in the entire arena froze at the next match displayed on the board.

_Hyuuga Neji_ VS _Hyuuga Hinata _

* * *

_**Fin**_

Okay, before I forget I'm changing the ages of the characters slightly. I'm making the rookie nine 14 years old, and Neji, Tenten, and Lee are 15. That's only a year older than they are in the manga. Temari is 14, Kankuro is 13 and Gaara is 12. If you have a problem with that, sit on it and rotate. Read and review.

Thank you for smoking and have a nice day 


	7. Chapter 7

I would like to apologize for taking so long with this chapter.

Now that that's out of the way, WHY THE FRELL DIDN'T ANYONE TELL ME MY GRAMMAR WAS SO BAD!?!?!?!?!?!?!?!?!?!?!?!?!?!?!?!?!?!!?!?!?!?!?!!?!?!?!

I about killed myself as I reread the story. So PLEASE tell me in the future if I have grammar mistakes or if something doesn't make since. Those are two of the major things that I get picky with for other stories and I will not make any exceptions for any story that I write.

And just to let everyone know, I will never abandon a story, ever. If for some reason I am unable to finish it. I will post a general summary of the rest of the story.

Now for some contests! I mainly want to know if anyone is paying attention. If you correctly answer of the questions below you I'll tell you either how the story got started or the pairings. Just let me know which one you want to know and if you answer two of the questions correctly then I will tell you both.

What is Naruto's 'meditation'?

What did I do in the opening scene of chapter 3?

And where did I get the Valmanway sword?

Now enjoy the story.

**Chapter 7: Release

* * *

**

The older leaf ninja in the room were sure that this battle was going to be harsh. The ninja from other countries looked at this fight as a rare opportunity to see the Jyuuken fighting style in action. Hinata was loosing more and more of the little confidence she had as she made her way to the ring and Neji was looking forward to crushing the heiress of the main house. Once both fighters had made it to the ring, Hayate started the match.

"Hinata-sama, fate has already decided that I will be the one to win this match," Neji said arrogantly. " You should just give up now. I can tell by the way you're standing that you don't even want to fight. You are too kind and know that even if you did fight you would lose. Even now you are trying to put distance between by raising your arms."

During the entire verbal onslaught Hinata withdrew into herself and lost the last bit of confidence she had. Neji would have smiled at the way he was defeating the main branch member of the Hyuuga. He wanted to humiliate her in the worst possible fashion and getting her to give up through fear alone would definitely humiliate her in the eyes of the Hyuuga council. Though, there was one person who sat on the balcony gripping the railing tighter and tighter the longer he listened to the pompous Hyuuga's speech, Uzamaki Naruto.

"Hinata, don't listen to him," Naruto exploded. "You're a lot stronger than you think you are. Besides, if I listened to what people said about me what would I be like? Only you can decide what you are and that's the truth. BELIEVE IT!"

That's the truth. Those words echoed through Hinata's mind as she remembered what Naruto told her before the exams. "_So, I guess the question shouldn't be 'by the power of truth' it should be 'what is the truth' and that, Hinata-chan, is something that we all must figure out for ourselves." _That phrase suddenly made perfect sense to her.

_"Naruto's right! You are what you make yourself to be. It doesn't matter what anyone else says or thinks. Meaning that the only person who can change who you are is yourself," _with that though, a courage and resolve flowed through Hinata that had never been there before.

Neji, meanwhile, looked at Naruto in annoyance. When he looked back to Hinata, he was slightly surprised to see confidence in her eyes.

"This will be your last chance to give up, Hinata-sama. If you do not I will not be held accountable for what happens during the fight," Neji said getting into a fighting stance and activating his Byakugan.

"I will not back out of this fight, Neji-niisan. Especially when there are people who are important to me watching and I won't go back on my words, for that is my nindo," Hinata stated as she followed Neji's preparations for battle.

It looked like the two were dancing rather than fighting. Each attack was well aimed and those attacks were parried or gracefully dodged. The spectators could only stare in awe at the death of dance the two Gennin were performing. Naruto in particular was proud of the way that Hinata was standing up to her cousin, even if he only just overheard Kurenai explaining that they were related.

The fight seemed even with no one holding the clear advantage. Then, Neji landed a glancing blow to Hinata's stomach. The blow knocked her back a few feet. Neji stood there and as his cousin looked at him while holding her where Neji hit. Naruto knew how powerful even a glancing Jyuuken strike could be. The small break that the fighters had taken ended as they charged each other and renewed their fight.

Shortly after the fight resumed, Hinata landed a powerful strike to Neji's chest but he just stood there like nothing happened. Neji saw confusion on Hinata's face.

So, he reached up and pulled her sleeve back as he explained, "Since the beginning of the fight I have been sealing the Tenketsus in your arms," Neji stated.

"Then…from the beginning…" Hinata asked shocked.

"Yes. This is the difference between those who are fated to be strong and those who are fated to be weak," Neji replied before striking Hinata just above the heart with a powerful Jyuuken strike. Hinata flew back and landed on the ground in a heap.

"Give up, Hinata-sama, and accept your fate. You cannot change the fact that fate said I should win this fight. Just as you cannot change yourself or the Hyuuga curse of suffering," Neji said as he rose to a standing position.

"Yo-your wrong Ne-Neji-niisan," Hinata said as she rose, coughing up blood. "You are the o-one t-that is s-suffering b-because of the H-Hyuuga curse," Hinata finished as she finally stood.

Neji became enraged at her words. He charged Hinata intent on killing her, completely ignoring Hayate's calls that the match was over. Neji was stopped short of his target three of the Jounin instructors.

"What's this? Special treatment for the main house," Neji asked as he was being held.

"Neji, you promised to keep your feelings about the main house out of this exam," Gai scolded as he released Neji.

"And I promised to protect my students no matter the cost," Kurenai stated following Gai's movements.

"I'm here to prevent as many deaths as possible and that includes yours Hyuuga," Hayate said as he to released the Hyuuga.

It was at this point that Neji looked down and saw the blade of Naruto's sword a few inches away from his stomach. Naruto would have killed Neji had he continued any further. Naruto was there in a crouched position. He released his sword. As he stood, he ran his hand through a pile of Hinata's blood and said.

"I promise, by the blood Hinata spilled, I will do to you what you have done to Hinata and more," Naruto swore in an icy cold tone that sent shivers down the Jounin's spines.

Naruto spun around fast as he heard Hinata hit the floor behind him. Naruto came up to Hinata and did a basic scanning jutsu to check her injuries. He cursed as he could tell from the extent of her injuries that Neji was really trying to kill her. He stopped the scanning jutsu and made hand seals for the _zen'yu no jutsu _(complete healing technique). This medical jutsu was perfect for him because it relied on the amount of chakra supplied and not chakra control.

Naruto was really pissed at the snake-teme now. What ever that guy did made this jutsu more exhausting than it should be. Just before he lost consciousness he felt Hinata's breathing even out and he knew that she would be okay.

* * *

_Scene change no jutsu _

Naruto slowly regained consciousness. He didn't know where he was, only that it reeked of disinfectants. Slowly he opened his eyes to a bright white room.

"About time you woke up, Brat," Anko said from a chair beside his bed.

"Anko? Where am I," Naruto asked confused.

"You're in the hospital. Haven't you been here before," Anko asked surprised that he wouldn't recognized the hospital.

"Once when I was about five. All I remember is that it wasn't a good idea for me to go in there again no matter what," Naruto replied still not fully awake.

About this time a nurse walked into the room, looked at Naruto's chart at the end of his bed, sneered at him, and then walked out. That was when Anko realized why Naruto thought of the hospital of a place not to go. Even if he was hurt they probably ignored him when he asked for help or ended up getting new injuries while the doctors took 'care' of him. Naruto's stomach decided to draw Anko out of her thoughts with a loud rumble.

Anko laughed softly at Naruto before replying, "It seems like someone's hungry but, then again, I would be to if it was me who hadn't eaten for almost two days." Naruto really wasn't surprised about being asleep for two days. It had happened before during some of his 'more' strenuous self-training sessions when he was younger. "The Hokage was by here wanting to talk to earlier but he didn't say about what. Oh well, why don't you get dressed and wait here for the approval to leave. I have a few things that I need to do. I'll be back in about an hour."

After Anko left, Naruto proceeded to get dressed. He wasn't feeling very comfortable being in a place where someone could do something and say it was 'treatment'. Even though he was bored, almost the entire hour passed rather quickly for Naruto, after he 'meditated'.

He decided to take a look down the hall to see if Anko or the Hokage were coming. When he opened his door, he heard what sounded like angry shouts coming from the room across from his and being the person he is, he decided to take a look.

He looked into the room through the window and saw Hinata and a man that Naruto could only guess was her father and the current clan head, Hyuuga Hiashi. Naruto's blood began to boil as he listened to Hinata's father degrade her. It was about this time that a plan was hatched that Kyuubi would deem suicide if he was aware of it. The plan came to Naruto as he saw Anko and the Hokage round the corner and some things that Anko had told him over the past two months.

Naruto abruptly opened the door to Hinata's room and shouted, "Hi, Hinata-chan." Hiashi was not happy to have someone come barge into the room in the middle of his 'speech'. Hinata was mortified that someone would come into her room as completely ignore her father, which was precisely what Naruto was doing.

"Who are you and why did you come in here and interrupt my speech," Hiashi demanded. Naruto turned just enough to give Hiashi a profile of his face before turning back to Hinata. Hiashi was livid, not only did the 'demon' interrupt his speech but 'it' was also ignoring him as well.

Placing his hands behind his head Naruto replied, "I'm sure you know who I am and I didn't interrupt any speeches. Now, if you consider belittling, insulting and degrading someone a speech then I suppose you right. Your late wife would be appalled at your behavior and frankly, so am I."

Hiashi had lost it. The 'demon spawn, criticizing him and the mentioning of his late wife sent him over the edge. He charged Naruto intent on killing him with a Jyuuken strike to the heart. Hinata was so surprised at her father's actions that she wasn't even able to give a cry of warning to Naruto.

Hiashi smirked thinking that he had killed the demon brat and there was nothing to prove that he was the one to have killed 'it', except for Hinata. Though, she could be kept quiet easily enough. The last person Hiashi expected to talk removed that rare smirk from his face.

"You now Hiashi, by attacking me you have committed an act punishable by death. Isn't that right, Hokage-sama, Anko-sensei," Naruto asked.

He then proceeded to release his bloodline's sword form, which he used as a shield against the attack. Indeed, the Hokage and Anko were standing in the doorway to the room. They saw Naruto enter the room as they came around the corner and decided to see what he was up to. Hiashi went paler than a ghost at Naruto's statement. He knew he was frelled. He had four different witnesses to his attempt on the demon's life.

Neither Hinata nor Naruto was a problem not even the Jounin was that big of a problem when dealing with the demon spawn. No, the problem was the Hokage himself, who, with the Jounin, could easily have him sentenced to execution without anyone being able to stop it.

"Indeed, Naruto is right, Hiashi," Sarutobi replied calmly, although, on the inside he was seething. Anko was a microsecond away from going and causing severe bodily harm to the Hyuuga, the heck with the consequences.

"Although," Naruto stated. "I may have a solution to this but first I would have to talk to Hinata in private."

"And why would I let _you_ talk to her alone," Hiashi said not hiding his distaste for the boy.

"Because if you don't you will be arrested and probably executed. Now, scoot," Naruto said as he made a shooing motion with his hands. Naruto made sure that they outside and the door was closed before he turned to speak with Hinata.

"Hinata," Naruto asked.

"Y-yes N-Naruto-kun," Hinata replied.

"If you could, all other things aside, would you leave the Hyuuga clan," Naruto asked looking very serious.

"I-I don't kn-know. I a-always dreamed o-of being able t-to change the H-Hyuuga clan,"

"Hinata, you will never be able to do that from within the clan. The council of elders will never allow such a change to happen, even if it was the wish of the clan head. And from what I saw of your father and his attitude toward you, he will make your sister the heiress no matter what you do or how powerful you become. Besides, if your not a part of the clan then they can't do anything to you when you tell people the truth about what's going on inside the closed doors of the Hyuuga estate" Naruto argued.

Hinata hated to admit it, but Naruto was right.

"So, I ask you again, if you were able to leave the Hyuuga clan would you," Naruto asked again.

"Yes," Hinata responded with her voice full of confidence. "But where will I live?"

"Don't worry. I got it all taken care of," Naruto replied with a smile. Naruto then went to the door and asked the three standing outside to come back in.

"Here's the deal, Hiashi," Naruto began. "I won't press any charges against you if you agree that Hinata will be free from all ties to the Hyuuga clan effective immediately, and she receives a copy of all of the Hyuuga clan techniques and all scrolls that have to do with the Byakugan."

"And why should I agree to your terms," Hiashi said as if he were in control of the situation.

"Because if you don't you will immediately arrested, stripped of your title as clan head, making Hinata the new clan head, and most likely executed," Naruto told him in a nonchalant manner.

Hiashi sat there and tried to find a way out of the mess that he had gotten himself into, but the only solution that he could find was the one Naruto was presenting.

"Agreed," Hiashi said with a hint of defeat in his monotone voice.

"Good. Now, Hokage-sama, can you please draft a document stating the terms of the deal that both, Hiashi and myself, could sign tomorrow morning in your office and would you be willing to act as a witness to the signing itself," Naruto asked turning his attention to Sarutobi.

Both Anko and the Hokage were surprised at the way Naruto was handling the situation. He managed to back the Hyuuga clan head into a corner with no way out. Sarutobi listened to the terms of the agreement and found that they were good except for one thing.

"What does Hinata think about separating all ties to her clan," the Hokage asked.

"I talked to her while you were outside and she has expressed the desire to leave her clan," Naruto answered.

"Then I don't see any problem with your requests," Sarutobi said stroking his beard.

"I must return home and figure out a way to tell the Hyuuga council about this arrangement," Hiashi said right before he walked out of the room.

"I don't think that he understands much of anything," Anko spoke up.

"I know what you mean. When I see a man of shallow understanding, like him, extravagantly clothed I feel sorry for the clothes," Naruto said right before everyone in the room broke out laughing, including Hinata.

It took awhile for the laughing to die down but once it did Hinata decided to ask Naruto a few questions.

"Ano, Naruto-kun, where will I be living now that I'm no longer apart of the Hyuuga clan?"

"Before I can answer that I need to tell you something. You already know about the Kyuubi, but I found out the next day that my father's name is Kazama Arashi, the Yondaime Hokage and I am the sole heir to the Kazama clan," Naruto explained.

Hinata's eyes went as wide as dinner plates upon hearing this news. She knew of the Kazama clan from her studies. It was the only clan that everyone in the Hyuuga feared mainly because their bloodline completely negated the Byakugan. Hinata promptly fainted after this information made it to her brain.

"Well, I can't say that I didn't expect that," Naruto said with a shrug. "Hey, Anko-sensei, will you stay here till she wakes up and explain to that she can live at the Kazama estate with us if she wants to? If she wakes up before I'm done talking with

Oji-san that is."

"Sure, why not? It's not like I have anything better to do," Anko replied.

"Okay. Come on Oji-san we can go talk in my room," Naruto said as he headed for the door.

"Alright, what did you want to talk to me about Oji-san," Naruto asked once they were in his room.

"I just wanted to make sure that you knew what was going on in the chunnin exams," Sandaime stated.

"Yeah, I did kind of miss the end didn't I? Hey, did Kakashi say anything to you about my fight," Naruto asked.

"No, in fact he didn't even see your fight. After Sasuke's fight, he left with Sasuke to take care of his curse seal and didn't come back. Speaking of Kakashi, he came to my office yesterday and told me he would be personally training Sasuke for the next month away from Konaha," Sarutobi said slightly agitated at Kakashi's actions.

"Oh, well I can't really say that I'm surprised about that. So, what did you want to tell me about the chunnin exams," Naruto said shrug.

"You have a month to train before the next stage of the chunnin exams. This stage is a one on one tournament just like the fights at the end of the second exam. The person that you will be fighting is none other than Hyuuga Neji," Sarutobi said passively but inside he was glad for Naruto's good fortune.

"This is perfect," Naruto said with a fox like grin. "Oh, before I forget. I offered the sound Gennin asylum from Orochimaru during the second stage fights."

"I don't see any problems with that as long as they agree to a few conditions. If they tell you that they want asylum tell them to see me at my office and I'll work on trying to find someone to help you train," the Hokage said.

"Hai," Naruto responded.

With his business concluded, Sarutobi left Naruto to wait for the doctor okay so he could leave. About ten minutes later, a nurse came in and told Naruto that he could leave. Naruto hopped out of his bed and made his way for the nearest exit.

The sound girl came up to him as he was heading down a hallway.

"Hey, did you really mean it when you said that could help me get away from Orochimaru," the girl asked.

"Yes, I did. Miss," Naruto replied.

"Oh, I'm sorry. My name's Tsuchi Kin," Kin said introducing herself.

"Well, Kin-san, if you really want to defect from sound then you need to talk to our Hokage and agree to some conditions that he has," Naruto said answering her question.

"The conditions can't be anything worst than Orochimaru can come up with," Kin replied with a small smile. With her questions answered, Kin bid Naruto farewell and continued down the hall.

"Who was that, Naruto," Anko asked as she came up to him.

"Someone hoping to be able to get away from Orochimaru," Naruto answered.

"I wish her luck then. Hey, how are you feeling," Anko asked.

"I'm felling a little stiff," Naruto replied.

"Then how about we stop at the hot springs before we go home and figure out what we're going to do for your training in the next month, since I need to start doing missions again shortly," Anko suggested.

Naruto agreed to the idea and then the pair left the hospital.

* * *

_Scene change no jutsu _

Naruto was having a great time. His body was totally relaxed and he had forgotten all of his worries. That is until he heard a giggle that reminded of Kakashi as he read one of his perverted books. He tried to ignore it but it just kept going and going and going…

Naruto finally had enough so he put a towel around his waist and made his way toward the pervert. The man that was making the perverted giggle had mass of white hair.

"You know, you really shouldn't be doing that," Naruto warned the man.

"Go away you pipsqueak. I'm trying to conduct research here," the man replied.

"Alright, don't blame me if Anko-sensei finds and kills you for peeping on her when I tell her," Naruto said with a shrug.

"Hold on a minute. Did you say Anko, as in Mitarashi Anko, was your sensei," the man said as he turned around.

"Yeah," Naruto said.

"Please, if you don't tell her I was peeping I'll do anything for you," The man said as he got his first good look at Naruto and noticed the seal in particular. The reason the seal was visible was because Naruto using chakra so could move with his weights on.

"What could a perverted old man like you do for me," Naruto asked.

"I am not just any pervert or old man for that matter. I happen to be Jiraiya the gama sannin. Author of the famous Icha Icha Paradise and super pervert," the man now known as Jiraiya said while doing a dance that made the Konahamaru corps introduction look like a ballet.

"That and I happen to notice you have a five point seal on your stomach," Jiraiya finished becoming serious.

Naruto eyes widened before he replied in a contemplating tone, "So that's what that snake-teme did to me in the forest."

"Who's the snake-teme you're talking, gaki," Jiraiya asked.

"Oh, that would be Orochimaru. Now, I have to go and learn how to undo the seal. That's just peachy," Naruto said, annoyed.

"You mean to tell me that you're studying how to do seals," Jiraiya asked.

"Yeah, it would be a whole lot easier if I had someone to help me instead of trying to learn it on my own," Naruto replied.

"This is perfect," Jiraiya shouted. "I can teach you how to do seals in exchange for you not telling Anko I was peeping on her. I'll even undo that five point seal and teach you how to summon frogs as a bonus for studying such an awesome field."

Jiraiya then proceeded to flip through a few hand seals. Once the tips of all five of his were glowing, he slammed his hand into Naruto's stomach. Naruto, in turn felt like a he just got run over by an Akamichi on his was to an all you-can-eat-buffet.

Jiraiya decided to get the frog contract while he waited for Naruto to recover.

_"Kyuubi, can you here me now," _Naruto asked.

_**"Yes," **_Kyuubi replied.

_"Good. How about now," _Naruto asked as he took a mental step forward.

_**"Will you cut that out," **_Kyuubi roared.

_"I'm sorry, I couldn't resist. Anyway, is everything okay," _Naruto asked.

_**"Yeah, we need to talk later about what happened in the Chunnin exams, all right," **_Kyuubi, stated.

Naruto mentally nodded before turning his attention toward the pervert. "Would it have hurt you to give me a little warning, Ero-sannin?"

"Don't know, but why take a chance on it" Jiraiya replied. "Anyway, just sign your name in blood here."

As soon as Naruto finished signing his name, the fence that the two were standing by got destroyed.

"Jiraiya, you pervert," a fully clothed and very angry Anko screamed.

"A-Anko, how long were you there," a very nervous Jiraiya asked.

"Long enough to hear you say that you're going to train Naruto and that you were peeping on me," Anko said in an all too innocent voice. "Now take your punishment!!!"

Anko then went and beat the living daylights out of Jiraiya.

"Come on Naruto let's go and, Jiraiya, you can meet us at the Kazama estate tomorrow to start his training. Have a nice day," Anko said as she left.

* * *

_Scene change no jutsu _

The pair approached the Kazama estate only to see a light blue hair girl standing on the porch.

"Botan? Is that you," Naruto asked.

"There you are. I've been out here for five minutes knocking," Botan replied happily.

"This is the girl, Botan, you were telling me about," Anko asked.

"Yeah she is, but what are you doing here," Naruto asked Botan.

"Would it hurt if we went inside before I tell you," Botan asked.

"Knowing you, yes" Naruto replied before retreating into the house. Naruto and Botan went to the living room while Anko went to make some tea.

"Now, can you please tell us what you're doing here," Anko asked as she poured the tea.

"There are actually a couple of reasons. The first is to give Naruto the contract for the dragon summons and the other is to give you the snake contract," Botan replied.

"Why am I getting the dragon contract, which I've never heard of anyone having before, and I thought that Hebi-teme had the snake contract already," Naruto asked with a raised eyebrow.

"You're right, no one has ever had a contract with the dragons before. You are the first person that managed to impress them enough that they think you're worthy of it. And no, Orochimaru doesn't have the snake contract. He has the demonic snake contract. We still don't know how he got his hands on that," Botan explained.

"Anyway," she continued. "Please sign in blood on the blank square."

"Does it matter if I've already signed the contract with the frogs," Naruto inquired.

"It shouldn't. The frogs are among the few summon clans that the dragon clan respects. Just make sure to picture what kind of summoning creature you want as you do the hand seals for summoning," Botan answered.

Satisfied, Naruto and Anko both took their respective contracts and signed them.

"Well, now that that is taken of, I have some other errands to I have to do. Ja ne," Botan said as she got up and left.

"That was odd," Anko slowly stated.

"I agree. Kind of like how you broke the fence at the hot springs right after I signed the frog contract," Naruto commented.

"Actually, I was watching you guys from the other side of fence waiting for you sign the contract so I could give that pervert his daily beating," Anko replied.

The duo ate dinner and decided to go bed early. Naruto had just finished his 'meditation' and climbed into bed when Kyuubi spoke to him.

_**"Hey, Kit, you didn't forget about our little chat from earlier, did you?"

* * *

**_

_**­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­ **_

_**Fin **_

**REVIEW or Smiley, Grinm, Jason, Freddy and Anko will force you to watch twenty-four hours of Lee and Gai- sensei's Training video, _You and your Youthfulness_. (I pity the fool.)**


	8. Chapter 8

Thank you for all those who have reviewed. It helps me write faster. I also need to thank DRKSilent-Killer for pointer out that I spelled Kin's last name wrong. And, yes I have fixed it.

**Chapter 8: Full Circle

* * *

**

"You wanted to see me, Sensei," a slightly beaten up Jiraiya asked.

"Yes I did. I would like to train someone for the Chunnin exams next month," the Hokage replied.

"No! After what happened with Arashi I swore I'd never take on another apprentice," Jiraiya said in a voice that left no room for argument.

"I know, but I need someone to help this boy train. His opponent in the finals is one of the strongest and his sensei left abandoned him to train his teammate," Sarutobi pleaded.

"It sounds like his sensei is playing favorites. Besides, I already promised to help someone else train for the finals," Jiraiya said with a sigh.

"Really? Who," the Sandaime asked curious.

"Uzamaki Naruto. Speaking of him, why is he living at the Kazama estate," Jiraiya asked. Jiraiya quirked an eyebrow when he noticed his sensei was quietly laughing to himself.

"I'm not laughing at you, Jiraiya," Sarutobi said answering the unasked question. "It's just that he is the one that I was going to ask you to train. As to why he is living at the Kazama estate, to quote Anko, 'the apartment he was living in was unfit for rats' that and Anko has been acting like his sensei. Anything more and you're going to have to ask Anko and Naruto when you see them."

"So, do you know how strong the boy is, Sensei," Jiraiya asked trying to find out some information about his new student.

"No, I don't. Actually, no one truly knows how strong the boy is. I know he's stronger than a few Chunnin for sure," Sarutobi replied.

"What about Anko? I thought he said that she was teaching him," Jiraiya asked confused.

"While it's true that Anko has been teaching him for the past few months, She's told me that her primary focus was to teach him the basics of taijutsu and other things that he should have learned and was never taught," the Hokage said sounding as old as he looked.

"What do you mean, 'teach him things that he was never taught'," Jiraiya asked getting quite confused.

"It was only when Naruto had a mental breakdown about two months ago that I looked long and hard at his academy records," Sarutobi said with a defeated sigh "It was blatantly obvious then that all of his teachers made sure that he was the dead last of the academy by any means, even going as far as altering his work. The only academy teacher that I have no doubt in my mind wouldn't have done it was Umino Iruka but by the time Naruto was put into his class the damage was already done. Naruto figured out no matter what he did he would be the dead last. So he stopped trying while at the academy."

"Outside the academy he apparently worked himself to the bone," the Sandaime continued with a small smile on his face. "Both Yuuhi Kurenai and Hyuuga Hinata have told me they saw him destroy several good sized trees in a matter of minutes without using any chakra. Not only that, but apparently Kyuubi had something done to him by Orochimaru that caused his attack in us."

"Naruto can talk with the Kyuubi," Jiraiya's asked as his eyes went wide.

"Yes he can. That's just one more reason not to underestimate him or for you to hold anything back while you're training him, understood," Sarutobi said with an air of finality.

Jiraiya nodded and then proceeded to leave. He had some thinking to do.

* * *

_Scene change no jutsu _

"Alright, so what did you want to talk to me about, Kyuubi," Naruto asked as he sat down in his mindscape.

**"It's about what happened in the forest of death," **Kyuubi replied.

"You mean when I was fighting Orochimaru," Naruto inquired.

**"Yes and also why you lost control of yourself," **Kyuubi remarked.

"Yeah, why did I lose control like that," Naruto asked confused.

**"When you first used my chakra in Wave I was giving it to you like I was still under the genjutsu. That's why I really didn't pay attention or worry too much when you lost control. I figured that it was the way I was giving you the chakra," Kyuubi explained.**

"If that's the case, why is it a problem? I mean, you were angry when you gave me chakra in the forest of death" Naruto asked.

**"True, but even then I was in complete control of my self and not blinded by my emotions. I think that your emotions are the catalyst," Kyuubi pondered.**

"How are my emotions the catalyst," Naruto asked confused.

**"I believe that my chakra is acting like a magnifier for your emotions," **Kyuubi explained. **"If you're angry when you use my chakra then it gets magnified to the point that you lose yourself in your anger."**

"So what's the problem then? All that means is that I'll have to be careful of how I feel when I draw on your chakra," Naruto said not seeing in big problem with the information.

**"I agree, but I also think it would be a good idea for you to start working on drawing my chakra. So that when you use it, you will be able to better handle the effects it has on you," Kyuubi suggested.**

"I'll start working on it tomorrow," Naruto replied.

**"That would probably be the best time since you will most likely using a lot of chakra for the summoning you will be doing," **Kyuubi acknowledged. **"Goodnight, Kit."

* * *

**

_Scene change no jutsu _

"Hey, Anko, how did Hinata take the news that she could move in with us," Naruto asked as he ate breakfast.

"She said she would be happy to move in with us. Speaking of Hinata, she said that she's suppose to get out of the hospital tomorrow and I was thinking since Jiraiya will be training you I would take and start training Hinata," Anko said seeking Naruto's opinion.

"That would probably be good. She's a lot better than she thinks," Naruto said with a thoughtful nod.

"Yeah, she is. The only thing that she's lacking is confidence. Although, with the way that she said she was treated I'm surprised she has as much confidence in herself as she does," Anko remarked. "Anyway, do you want to want to tell the pervert who your parents are?"

"No, I like told when we first met I want people to se me, not the Kyuubi or my parents. Besides, if he can't figure out who my parents are then that's his problem," Naruto stated flatly.

"Okay. I'm going to teach you the water walking chakra control exercise after your meeting with the Hokage. Hurry up and finish eating, you don't want to be late," Anko nagged.

* * *

_Scene change no jutsu _

The Sandaime Hokage, Sarutobi, had gotten up early that morning to draw the contract for Naruto. He had gone over it several times to make sure that there were no loopholes in it on either end. There were very few contracts as ironclad as this one and even those were mainly marriage agreements between clans and villages. He also made sure to have three copies of the contract, one for his own records since he was the witness and one for both of the signing parties.

"Come in," Sarutobi responded to the knock on the door.

"Is Hiashi here yet, Hokage-sama," Naruto asked. The Sandaime was a little surprised at Naruto's sign of respect. Though, he chalked it up to the seriousness of the situation.

"No, he isn't. Is Anko here with you," Sarutobi asked.

"No, she said something about getting some stuff ready while I came here," Naruto replied.

It was about then that another knock came. This time it was Hiashi. The Sandaime saw the look of contempt in his eyes and this meant only one thing when dealing with a Hyuuga, he wasn't trying to hide it.

"Hokage-sama, if you have the document ready. I have other things I have to attend to today," Hiashi said in a cold and indifferent tone.

It took all Naruto had in him to keep himself restrained and act according to the circumstances. He couldn't believe how Hiashi could brush this off. It only served to confirm that he made the right decision yesterday in making sure that Hinata could get away from the rest of the Hyuuga, especially her father.

The signing was quick and as soon as Hiashi had signed the agreement and turned over the necessary scrolls, along with Hinata's belongings, he left without even looking back.

"I hate stuck up people like him," Naruto commented rather bitterly.

"I know what you mean, Naruto. Now, I suggest you get back home. Jiraiya should be there shortly if he isn't there already," the Hokage stated. Naruto politely bowed and left Sarutobi to face his most feared enemy, paperwork. He was just about to start, when Naruto's head popped back through the door.

"Hey, Old Man, you know with a few shadow clones you could be done with that paper work in no time," Naruto said with a sly smirk on his face.

_"That explains how Arashi always got done with the paperwork so fast. Though, I still can't believe that he convinced everybody he was stupid," _Sarutobi thought to himself.

* * *

_Scene change no jutsu _

Anko had just seen Naruto off and was going to get Hinata's room ready for her. A knock on her door, however, changed those plans.

"What are you doing here, Ero-sennin," Anko asked after she answered the door.

"Is Naruto around," Jiraiya asked annoyed at the nickname.

"No, he has a meeting with the Hokage this morning. Why," Anko asked

"I came by to ask you a few questions about Naruto," Jiraiya replied.

Jiraiya had done a lot of thinking the night before and decided that Anko was the best source for his answers. Anko invited the pervert in and went to the kitchen to make some tea for the two of them.

"So, what do you want to know," Anko asked as she came into the living room with the tea.

"To start with, why is he living here with you," Jiraiya asked.

"Because his apartment wasn't fit for rats to live in," Anko replied hotly.

"Who's Naruto's Jounin sensei and why have you been teaching Naruto instead of him." Jiraiya inquired.

Anko saw that Jiraiya was looking for answers and decided it would be best if he just heard Naruto's life story.

"Let me get this straight, Naruto's life has basically been a living nightmare, the Kyuubi isn't evil and Hatake Kakashi disregarded his own teachings to train a stuck up brat," Jiraiya asked.

"Yeah, that's the kid's life in a nutshell. It's amazing that he's still sane let alone wants to become Hokage," Anko confirmed. Her voice had lacked its usual energy though.

"When I get a hold of that low-down dirty son of a - He better pray that Tsunade returns here by sundown or he's going to die from the wounds that I'll inflict during our little 'chat'," Jiraiya growled out.

"Yeah, I would come along to help you but the frelling little coward ran away to train the Uchiha and won't be back until the third stage of the chunnin exams," Anko agreed.

"Thank you for answering my questions. I'll be back in a few hours with everything I need to train Naruto. Ja ne," Jiraiya said politely before leaving.

Anko thought about what Jiraiya said he wanted to do to Kakashi as she cleaned up the tea. She realized that the 'punishment' they gave him two months ago obviously wasn't enough. A problem she intended to rectify as soon as she could. She had just started going upstairs to finish what she originally intended to do, get Hinata's room ready for her, when Naruto got home and announced his presence loudly.

"Frell," Anko cursed. "Meet me out back by the pond, okay, Naruto?"

Anko heard Naruto agree and then began to sit for a moment and wonder why it seemed like she wasn't suppose to get Hinata's room ready before going to the pond herself.

* * *

_Scene change no jutsu _

"All right, Naruto," Anko began. "This exercise is the same as tree walking except that you have to expel a constant amount of chakra from your feet instead of just trying to keep a set amount in place. I'm going to go get Hinata's room ready for her while you do the exercise. And if you happen to get done with this quickly, just take a break and wait for Ero-sennin to get here. Come and get me if you have any questions."

Naruto nodded and started working while Anko went back into the house. It didn't take all that long to finish the exercise. Naruto really wasn't all that surprised since he's been wearing the Spirit Weights for the last two months. So, since he was done early, he decided to sit down and think about what has happened to him lately.

Naruto thought about the promise he made to Neji and how he was going to go about keeping it, he thought about Hinata moving in with him and Anko, Hiashi and what was going on within the Hyuuga clan. He finally settled on the dragon contract he just received.

He decided to keep it hidden from people for now but he still wondered how and why he was the person to receive it. He also wondered if the mysterious Upstairs character had anything to do with him receiving as well.

Naruto didn't realize how long he had been thinking until he heard Jiraiya's voice, "Hey, Gaki, you back here?"

"I'm over here, Ero-sennin," Naruto hollered back.

"Come on, we got a bit of a walk before I can begin to train you how to summon and stop calling me Ero-sennin," Jiraiya stated as he walked up to Naruto.

Naruto just ignored the pervert as he followed him. The duo spent the next half hour walking away from the village.

"So, tell me again why we had to walk all the way out here, Ero-sennin," Naruto asked.

"Because, Gaki, if, by some miracle, you summon one of the larger toads we won't cause a village wide panic. Pour all of your chakra into the following set of hand seals," Jiraiya said annoyed.

_"Oh, I will," _Naruto thought. "_Hey, Kyuubi, why don't you give me enough chakra to summon Gamabunta?" _

_**"Sure thing, Kid. I can't wait to see the look on the pervert's face," **_Kyuubi looking foreword to the mind games with Jiraiya.

Naruto bit his thumb, repeated the hand seals that Jiraiya just showed him and slammed his hand into the ground crying _Kuchiyose no jutsu_ (summoning technique).

**"Jiraiya, you lecher. Where are you and why did you summon me," **a massive toad roared.

"Ero-sennin is hiding behind the bush over there but I summoned you Gamabunta-san," Naruto yelled from on top of the toad.

**"How did a kid like you have enough chakra to summon me," **Gamabunta asked.

"Simple, I just used some of Kyuubi's chakra when I summoned you," Naruto said like it as though it was the most obvious thing in the world.

**"Jiraiya, how did this kid get a hold of the toad contract," **Gamabunta asked as he took a puff from his pipe.

"He kind of um…sort of ah…" Jiraiya started as he reluctantly came out from behind the bushes.

**"Spit it out, all ready," **Gamabunta roared.

"He blackmailed me into giving it to him," Jiraiya finished quickly.

Gamabunta had a good laugh before he replied, **"I like you, kid, and unlike that lecher, you actually have _some_ manners. I'll accept you as my subordinate. Call me when you're old enough to drink and we'll have one together. Call on us if you need any help. Ja ne."**

And with that the giant toad summon disappeared in a cloud of smoke.

"Anything else, Ero-sennin," Naruto asked.

"Yeah, come on let's go back to the house to see where you are on seals," the floored Jiraiya stated.

"Hey, if alright with you I'm going to send a Kage Bunshin back with you while I try to meet some of the other toads," Naruto asked as he made his way toward the pervert.

"You know about that," Jiraiya exclaimed.

"Yeah, and before you go off on the dangers of using it like that, save it, I already got that talk from Anko-sensei," Naruto said holding up his hand.

Jiraiya nodded dumbly before he made his way back to the Kazama estate with the clone. Naruto watched his clone and Jiraiya walk away. Once the two were out of sight, he made his way further into the forest. He wanted to be sure that no one would be able to see his summon. The reason was because he heard from Kyuubi that the boss of the dragons was a lot bigger than Gamabunta. Naruto was curious as to how Kyuubi knew this when he was supposed to be the first person to actually have the contract but he just chalked it up as a Kyuubi thing.

Naruto must have walked out for about an hour the forest was just that peaceful, before he finally decided to try and summon the dragon boss. Once again, Naruto used Kyuubi's chakra and did the hand seals for the _Kuchiyose_ _no jutsu,_ this time focusing on summoning a dragon. A giant plume of smoke appeared, easily twice the size of Gamabunta. A roar erupted from within the smoke that Naruto was sure that people in Konaha heard. Naruto soon found himself high in the air.

**"I see you have finally summoned one of us," **a deep, animalistic voice sounded.

"Yes, I have. To whom am I speaking," Naruto asked respectfully.

**"How rare, a summoner with manners. My name is Bahamut Shin," **the dragon responded.

"If I may ask, Bahamut Shin-sama, why was I chosen to receive the dragon contract when no other person has had it and why are you called Bahamut Core," Naruto asked politely.

**"Because that is my title as leader of the dragons. There is also Bahamut Zero, Neo Bahamut, Bahamut and Ridley who are directly below me in that order. Although, please call me Shin. We dragons have heard of your life from others and how you have dealt with it. We feel that you will represent us with honor, and no, I won't tell you who told us about you," **Shin finished explaining.

"One last question, why do you respect the toad summons," Naruto asked.

**"I'm assuming your asking because you also hold the toad contract. Don't worry, Gamabunta and I know that you have the two contracts and we're fine with that. But as to why we dragons respect the toads, that young summoner is a story for another time," **Shin explained once again.

"Thank you for answering my questions, Shin. I won't hesitate to call if I need your help," Naruto said as Shin disappeared.

Naruto was glad that Shin was able to answer some of his questions but at the same time his talk with the dragon boss left with him bigger questions. He figured it was Upstairs, whoever that was, that told the dragons about him. Though, he still couldn't grasp why Upstairs would be helping him. All he really knew about Upstairs was that the Bijuu some how had at least a vague idea of who it was but every time he asked Kyuubi the furball refused to answer. Naruto just decided to drop the subject for now and worry about it later. He needed to train, because he had a rear to kick.

* * *

_Scene change no jutsu _

To say Jiraiya was impressed would have been an understatement. He heeded his sensei's words and didn't underestimate the boy but this was ridiculous. Naruto had managed to learn quite a lot in two months, and that was all on his own. Naruto probably would have been considered a genius in seal making. Jiraiya couldn't imagine how much progress Naruto would be able to make now that he had someone there to teach him about seals.

Jiraiya was glad that no one would be able to say anything to him about teaching the boy too much. After all, the Hokage had personally told him not to hold anything back. Jiraiya had just told the Naruto clone to take a fifteen-minute break. He had spent a little over an hour and a half going over what Naruto knew about steals and had started explaining some the basics about sealing that made it a whole lot easier to do.

Naruto came back to the house during the break and dispelled the clone. Naruto spent the rest of the day, aside from meals and the occasional break, going over seals with Jiraiya while Anko made sure everything was ready for Hinata to move in tomorrow.

* * *

_Scene change no jutsu _

"Hey, Hinata-chan," Naruto said loudly as he stepped into Hinata's hospital room.

"H-hello, N-Naruto-kun," Hinata replied.

"The doctors just told me you can leave as soon as your ready, Hinata. Here are some clothes that I brought for you to change into. Naruto and I will be waiting outside the door while you do that," Anko told the girl.

"You know, you really didn't have to skip training today just to help Hinata get settled in," Anko said to Naruto as the pair waited in the hall for Hinata.

"I'm not really missing too much training. I've got a Kage Bunshin back at the house working with Ero-sennin. Besides, with my weights, walking from the house to here is exercise," Naruto said with a shrug of his shoulders.

Hinata exited the room a few minutes later and the three of them headed for the Kazama estate.

The chatter along the way was kept light and centered around training. Hinata was surprised to hear that Naruto was being trained by one of the Sannin. It was sad to say that she wasn't surprised by Kakashi's actions but she was surprised when Anko mentioned her training. Since Hinata had the next month off from working with her team, Anko told Hinata that she would be personally over seeing her training during that time, since the Hokage gave her the next two weeks off this morning, and when she could after that as well.

With all the talking, it didn't seem to take very long at all to reach the Kazama estate. The grounds beauty astounded Hinata. Naruto and Anko gave Hinata a short tour of the house before leading her to her room.

"And here's your room, Hinata. There' a walk in closet over there and you have your own bathroom over there," Anko said pointing the things out to Hinata. "I cleaned the room up a bit yesterday but I didn't want to unpack any of your stuff. I figured I could help you do that today. Now, why don't we go get some lunch and then Naruto can go train while I help you unpack. That is, unless you want Naruto to help you unpack as well, including ALL of your clothes." Hinata's cheeks instantly turned red at what Anko was insinuating.

"N-no th-that's f-fine A-Anko-san," Hinata said highly embarrassed.

Jiraiya came out of the library just in time to join the others for lunch. Lunch itself was a quite affair and ended all to soon in Hinata's opinion. Then she realized that she would be seeing and speaking to Naruto everyday. That thought alone nearly caused the girl to faint. Jiraiya told Naruto that after lunch he was going to take him out back to learn a few new jutsu that should come in handy.

"Hey Hinata," Anko said. "For right now I think it would be a good idea not to tell people where you're living, mainly because it would raise a lot of unwanted questions, alright?"

"Y-yes A-Anko-sensei," Hinata responded.

The group finished lunch and parted ways. As Naruto and Jiraiya made there way to an area to train, Naruto stopped and created Kage Bunshins to go and practice the various things he had been working on.

And so Naruto's training went. Physical exercise in the morning while one of his Kage Bunshins went over sealing with Jiraiya. Lunch with Hinata and Anko and the either jutsu practice with Jiraiya or more physical training while Jiraiya continued teaching a clone about seals.

* * *

_Scene change no jutsu _

Hayate was not having a good night. He'd been ordered to follow a suspected spy, Kabuto, and now Hayate was sitting in a bush listening to the spy talk to a sand nin. He cursed to himself when he heard that sound and sand were planning a joint attack during the chunnin exams and to further add to his problems he had apparently been spotted by the sand nin.

"You know I can't let you leave here alive," the sand nin, that Hayate recognized as the jounin instructor Baki, confronted him.

Hayate quickly made hand seals and called out _Mikazuki no Mai _(Dance of the Crescent Moon). The attack hit Baki and kicked up dust where it hit as well. When the dust cleared, it revealed Baki sitting there holding some type of orb in his right hand.

"To have mastered that jutsu at your age is impressive, but I'm afraid that it can be blocked. Unlike like a blade made of wind, _Kaze no Yaiba_ (Blade of Wind)," Baki called out as he unleashed his attack.

The attack hit Hayate and part of the roof that he was standing on. Baki looked down to see Hayate completely buried in ruble from the room. Satisfied that he was dead, Baki quickly left the scene. Their little fight would surely have caught the attention of any nearby ANBU patrols.

_"I'm definitely glad the Kazama library had a scroll about countering attacks like that," _Hayate thought from beneath the rubble.

He lacked the necessary skill to completely counter Baki's attack, but he was able to keep the attack from being fatal. Now all he had to do was wait for an ANBU patrol to show up so he could get treated and then tell the Hokage what he heard.

* * *

_Scene change no jutsu _

"So, you ready for this kid," Anko asked.

"Yeah, Neji is going to pay for what he did to Hinata," Naruto replied.

"Good, Hinata and I will be watching from the stands. Just make sure your prepared for everything after the finals," Anko stated.

Naruto just nodded in response and with that they parted ways, Naruto to the stadium floor, Hinata to find a seat and Anko to her post in the stadium.

* * *

_**Fin **_

**REVIEW or Smiley, Grinm, Jason, Freddy and Anko will force you to watch twenty-four hours of Lee and Gai- sensei's Training video, _You and your Youthfulness_. (I pity the fool.)**


	9. Chapter 9

Chapter 9: Release

The sheer number of people in the stadium awed Naruto. He, along with the others that made to the Chunnin exam finals, stood in the middle of the stadium's arena. Apparently some guy named Genma was going to be the proctor for this part of the exam.

Naruto absent-mindedly looked around as he waited for the matches to start and to see if anyone would notice him wearing his darker clothes. He wondered where Sasuke could be; but then he remembered that he was with that hypocrite Kakashi. Naruto looked at Neji and saw him standing there with his holier than thou attitude.

He was definitely looking forward to wiping the floor with him.

"All right guys…and lady," Genma added when he saw Temari's annoyed look. "The rules are the same as they were in the preliminaries. Remember, you're the stars here. So make sure to give the crowd what they came here for and show the judges that you're worthy of the chunnin title. Now, will all of the competitors except for Naruto and Neji please go up to the competitors box."

While everyone was moving to the competitors box, Neji started to taunt Naruto as they themselves got ready.

"I'm surprised a loser like you had the guts to show up. You can't change the fact that fate has already decided to give the victory to me."

"Neji, just shut the frell up. I don't care what you say I'm going to make you pay for what you did to Hinata," Naruto said showing his distaste for the Hyuuga prodigy.

Genma saw that everyone was out of the way and the two competitors were ready to tear each other apart. He began the match and leapt to a safe distance very far away.

Neither Naruto nor Neji moved, each one waiting for the other to move first. Neji sat there, he had expected Naruto to come rushing in as soon as the match started. So, the young prodigy sat there analyzing his opponent. Naruto was full of confidence and had no doubts. This just served to make Neji look forward to rubbing it into the blondes face after the match that he would remain weak just as fate decided.

"Wow, who would have thought that the great Neji would be afraid of a dead last," Naruto said trying to provoke Neji into attacking.

It worked like a charm. Neji's pride wouldn't allow the insult to slide. He activated his Byakugan and charged. Seeing Neji's charge, Naruto slid into a defensive stance. Naruto almost made it look easy as he dodged and redirected Neji's strikes away from himself. This only served to infuriate Neji. He picked up his attack speed and power. Neji smirked when he managed to make it passed Naruto's guard and get a clean hit on Naruto's chest.

It came as a bit of a shock when Naruto disappeared in a cloud of smoke. Neji instantly tensed and began scanning for his opponent.

"Not bad, Neji. But I'm afraid you're going to have to do better if you want to beat me," Naruto said as he jumped down from on of the trees on the arena.

Neji turned to face Naruto just as Naruto unleashed a horde of Kage Bunshins upon Neji. This time Neji held nothing back as he began to attack the clones. One by one the clones disappeared.

"I have already seen through your strategy. You're afraid of my attacks. That means that you're there," Neji stated as he charged a Naruto that was staying away from the fight.

Neji once again smirked when he hit Naruto. That smirk quickly became a scowl when that Naruto also disappeared in a cloud of smoke.

"Some genius you are," a Naruto mocked. "I've been sitting here attacking head on the whole time."

Neji turned to see the real Naruto standing there looking very smug. Neji, with the aid of his Byakugan, he saw three Naruto's attacking him from behind.

"_No time to doge. I guess I'll have to use it," _Neji thought. The blondes were almost upon him when he began to spin and release chakra. The clones hit the spinning chakra and were thrown back before the dispelled.

"Oh, so you have a defense do you," Naruto asked sounding almost as if he was expecting Neji to do that. In fact, he was. Naruto had gone over all of the Hyuuga clans techniques with Hinata during his training. When Hinata had asked him why he was doing it Naruto simply stated, "If he is as big of a genius as everyone thinks he is, I want to know all of the techniques he could possibly have heard about and mastered on his own".

"Not just any defense. This is a true ultimate defense without flaws," Neji stated as arrogant as ever.

"Well how about we test that theory," Naruto shot back as he activated a launcher in his sleeve and out came a rod about twice the size of a short sword handle.

"You should feel honored, Neji, you are the first person that I have used this against in combat," Naruto said as he activated his bloodline.

But instead of the Kubikiri Houcho, it was what looked like a short sword. The handle split about halfway up and came down to make the hilt guard of the sword. Naruto then charged Neji fast enough as to not give him time to dodge. Neji, being a Hyuuga, knew that he didn't have the skill to use a Kunai against Naruto's sword, the chakra he saw going through the blade didn't help either. Neji was slightly surprised when Naruto jumped into the air and come done down headfirst pointing his sword at him. Nonetheless, Neji waited for Naruto to get closer before he started his defense.

The two attacks met and exploded. The wind from the blast caused dust to envelope the entire arena.

* * *

_Scene change no jutsu _

Up in the stands there were several surprised faces. Hyuuga Hiashi and his daughter Hyuuga Hinabi couldn't believe that Neji knew the Kaiten, a main branch technique.

Ino and Sakura were sitting together and having there own conversation.

"Wow, Naruto has really gotten strong hasn't he," Ino asked Sakura.

"He still won't beat Sasuke-kun. I mean, Sasuke-kun trains hard everyday and all Naruto does is go around laughing and playing. Naruto never takes any thing seriously and was always goofing off in the academy. It's no wonder why he's the dead last," Sakura stated sure of her facts.

Ino on the other hand was pissed.

"Sakura, I don't want to hear you say anything bad about Naruto until you can tell me you actually know him and what his life is like," Ino told Sakura with the same glare she gave to Shikamaru and the others three months ago in the hospital.

"Please, he's a loud mouth ramen loving idiot that's the very definition of the baka. I should know after all, he is on my team," Sakura countered with a deadpan look.

"If he's on your team, then what has he been doing the last three months," Ino asked raising an eyebrow.

"Well…um…ah…" Sakura started to mumble.

"That's exactly my point, Sakura, he's been on your team for the past six months and the last three you have no clue as to what he was actually doing. Before that you only saw him during team activities and even then you ignored him to fawn over Sasuke," Ino stated calmly.

"Why do you care, Ino? And for that matter why are you defending him," Sakura tried to counter.

"Because, Sakura, I used to think like you and then I actually got to know him. He's a lot different than you think and I have just begun to really get to know him over the last three months. So don't you dare sit there and tell me you know him. I would also think long and hard about why you like Sasuke," Ino said looking Sakura in the eye.

Meanwhile, the dust had cleared down in the stadium to reveal a slightly panting Naruto and a bleeding Neji. Neji had a shallow cut a few inches long down the back of his right shoulder blade.

It was then that Ino and Sakura overheard two chunnin talking about the match.

"Impressive," one stated. "He has been countering the Hyuuga move for move the entire match. If he can continue to do that than he will most definitely make Chunnin."

"Indeed. Although what I want to know is how did that kid break through the Kaiten," the second one replied.

Those exact same thoughts were running through the mind of all those who knew of the Kaiten. Though, a few Hyuuga elders in the audience were furious that the demon spawn was making a mockery of the Hyuuga fighting style and techniques.

* * *

_Scene change no jutsu _

"What's the matter, Neji, scared," Naruto asked mocking Neji.

"And why should I be scared," Neji asked about ten feet away from Naruto. On the inside however, he was extremely confused.

The Kaiten was supposed to be unbreakable but that is exactly what Naruto had done, broken the Kaiten.

"It is time for me to show you why you will always be a loser. You are in my field of divination! _Hakke Rokuju Yonsho _(Eight Trigrams sixty-four strikes)," Neji called out.

Neji rushed Naruto and began his attack.

Two strikes!

Four strikes!

Eight strikes!

Sixteen strikes!

Thirty-two strikes!

Sixty-four strikes!

Naruto went flying back after Neji's last hit.

"Examiner, it's over he won't be getting up. I have closed all of his Tenketsu," Neji said arrogantly as he straitened himself.

"I wouldn't be so sure about that, Neji," Naruto said as he too got up. Although, he got up slowly and with a lot of pain.

"Why do you continue to fight win you know that fate has already said that I will win," Neji asked looking at Naruto like he was trash.

"Neji, let me ask you this; has fate ever talked to you, written to you, or let you look through its crystal ball," Naruto asked.

"No," Neji responded slightly confused at what Naruto was getting at.

"Then how can you say that fate has said that you will win," Naruto asked.

"You have no idea what it's like to be marked by something you will never be rid of. I will tell you about the Hyuuga fate of hatred," Neji said starting to get angry.

He was planning on continuing but Naruto's laughter cut him off.

"Save it," Naruto said going from laughing to dead serious. "I know all about that supposed fate of hatred and don't you _dare_ tell me that I will never know what it's like to be marked by something you will never be rid of!"

"_Hey, Fox, give some of your chakra," _Naruto thought.

"**_Only if you use it to wipe the floor and the smirk off this kids face,"_** Kyuubi replied.

"_Deal," _was Naruto's on word reply.

Almost instantly red chakra began to flow through Naruto reopening his closed Tenketsu. The chakra poured out of Naruto's body and for a brief moment people thought they saw the head of a giant fox. But as soon as it appeared it was gone. The only remnants of the chakra were Naruto's blood red eyes and longer fingernails.

Naruto didn't waste ay time. Naruto deactivated his blood line and put the handle back in its launcher. He then reached into his back pouch and grabbed a handful of shuriken and threw them at Neji. Neji blocked them using the Kaiten. Neji stopped spinning and grabbed the shuriken out of the air. He grabbed some of his own and then threw them all at Naruto. Naruto seemed to vanish right before the shuriken would have hit him.

Neji saw Naruto's movements with his Byakugan and looked up to follow Naruto as he came down from the air at an angle. Neji waited for Naruto to get close before doing his Kaiten But when tried to spin he couldn't move his feet. Looking down he saw that two pairs of hands were holding his feet. By the time he realized this it was already too late for him to mount a proper defense.

Naruto punched Neji square in the face, forcing Neji to fall straight back due to the hands holding his feet and before he could recover his senses a giant sword was placed at his throat.

"Give up Neji or do I have to kill you," Naruto asked looking dead serious.

"That won't be necessary," Genma interrupted. "Winner, Uzamaki Naruto!"

Slowly the cheers started and then it steadily grew louder until everyone in the entire stadium was cheering. As Naruto made his way back to the competitors box, he couldn't help but think the cheers were only superficial and the glares would be back before the day was done.

"Uzamaki-san, if I could speak to alone for a moment," Shino asked in his usual tone when Naruto reached the competitors box.

Naruto shrugged and followed Shino to a back corner of the box, but not before making sure that Shikamaru made it to his match by pushing him over the railing.

"What do want to talk to me about and if it's about my new clothes, my sensei convinced me to get new ones," Naruto said wondering why the silent bug user would want to talk to him.

"It is about what happened in the forest just over three months ago," Shino stated.

"Huh," Naruto asked clueless.

"Between you and Hinata-san," Shino said readjusting his glasses.

Naruto's face instantly went white as a sheet.

"H-h-how do y-you know about that," Naruto stuttered out.

"First you can put your fears to rest. I, along with Shikamaru and Chouji, do not think like a majority of the villagers. In fact, we have spoken of your unfair treatment to your clans. As to why we know, a bug I keep on my teammates for safety reasons told me and Shikamaru and Chouji were in the clearing when you told Hinata-san." Shino finished his speech and then went back to prepare him for his match.

He still didn't know why he had to be the one to tell Naruto that the three of them knew of the Kyuubi. Naruto for his part, sat there in a state of compete shock. Not only did three people he considered at least passing friends know of the Kyuubi but they still accepted him. They even went as far as talking to there respective clans about his treatment. He stood there thinking not caring about the exams anymore.

Slowly, a true smile crept on his face. Things were definitely looking up for a change. Naruto walked back to the box's railing. Shino turned to him and Naruto gave him a slight nod of the head as a thank you, no words were necessary. He looked down into the arena just in time to see Sasuke appear for his match in a swirl of leaves along with Kakashi.

That's when Naruto realized just how badly he had spaced out. he asked Shino what he had missed. Shino told him that Shikamaru created an elaborate plan to catch Temari but ended up forfeiting and that Kankuro forfeited against him before the match began.

Naruto really didn't care for Sasuke's fight. He absentmindedly noted that Sasuke had trained in speed using Bushy Brow's taijutsu style. What really caught Naruto's attention was the sand ability that Gaara was using. He found it similar to the _Iron Sand_ that he read about the Sandaime Kazekage using. Kyuubi on the other hand, was cursing his luck.

* * *

_Scene change no jutsu _

Kakashi had just made his way into the stands and already he was regretting the spot he picked.

"Ah, my eternal rival what have you done to young Naruto's flames of youth to make them burn so bright," Gai asked in his indoor voice.

"Did you say something, Gai," Kakashi asked in his usual lazy drawl.

"Ah, once again your hip ways have managed to out do me, Kakashi," Gai said with tears streaming down his face. "But seriously what did you do? He made a fool of Neji and it didn't even look like he was trying," Gai asked turning serious.

The seriousness that Gai asked that question with caught Kakashi off guard. Gai never spoke to him to him like that unless it was life or death or something very important.

"I don't know what you're talking about, Gai. I wasn't even aware that Naruto made it to the finals," Kakashi said surprised. "Besides your probably just exaggerating anyway."

"Kakashi, I don't think breaking a Hyuuga Kaiten and countering Neji's every move is exaggerating," Gai said still very serious.

Kakashi was glad that he wasn't holding his orange book when Gai told him that. If he was, he was sure he would have dropped it.

"Then again," Gai continued. "He did promise to do to Neji what he did to his cousin Hinata."

"What did he promise to do, Gai," Kakashi asked still in a slight state of shock.

"Ah, that's right you weren't there were you. He promised to do to him what he did to Hinata. Looking back at that fight Neji did make everything Hinata did against him useless," Gai finished nodding.

* * *

_Scene change no jutsu _

"**_Kit, I need you to listen very carefully to what I'm about to tell you," _**Kyuubi said getting Naruto's full attention. **_"That kid down there is the vessel for the one-tailed tanuki, Shukaku, and from the looks of it he either has a faulty seal holding him, possessed or possibly both. If you fight him I need you to perform the following hand seals within five feet of him." _**

Naruto made sure to listen to all of the hand seals and a few other details about the jutsu that Kyuubi was telling him but as soon as that was done Naruto had a few questions of his own, _"Hey, Kyuubi, I thought you said you didn't know any jutsus and what is this supposed to do anyway," _Naruto asked.

"**_This jutsu will force any alien beings out of him and destroy them," _**Kyuubi stated.

"_But won't that kill Shukaku at the same time then,"_ Naruto asked interrupting Kyuubi.

"Will you let me finish," **_Kyuubi snapped._** "Shukaku will be fine because even if the seal on Gaara is faulty the seal will still keep Shukaku safe from the jutsu's effect. Look at it like this, it would be like forcibly removing an Yamanaka form your mind. You can do that because there isn't anything truly anchoring them to the mind."

"_And what if he's crazy from a faulty seal and not possessed," _Naruto asked fearing for his health.

"_Then I suggest you either run far, far away or beat him to within 0.5986 inches of his life and then fix his seal,"_ Kyuubi replied like it was the most obvious thing in the world.

"_Thanks, I feel much better now, Kyuubi,"_ Naruto said being sarcastic.

"_You're welcome,"_ Kyuubi replied being dead serious.

It was about this time that Gaara let out a blood curdling scream from within his sphere of sand. It was also about this time that Naruto noticed feathers beginning to fall throughout the stadium. He immediately recognized it as a genjutsu and formed the proper hand signs dispelling it. Then Naruto heard several loud explosions go off throughout Konaha and one word rang through Naruto's mind, invasion.

Naruto immediately dropped his weights and begin dispatching foes as fast as he could. It wasn't long before Naruto met up with Kakashi in the Participants box of the stadium.

"Naruto, I need you to wake Shikamaru up and go after Sasuke. Sasuke took off after that sand nin, Gaara. I'm not sure why but he seems important to our enemies invasion plans," Kakashi said as he summoned one of his dogs.

"I have no doubt that a jinchuriki would be a big part of someone's invasion plans," Naruto said sarcastically. "Hey, Shikamaru, get up already will you!"

"Pakkun, I need you to guide Naruto and Shikamaru to Sasuke," Kakashi said giving his summon orders.

"Naruto I'm going with you," Sakura screamed. She apparently overheard Kakashi giving Naruto the order to go help Sasuke.

"Troublesome," Shikamaru mumbled under his breath. "Naruto, I was hoping to just pretend to sleep through the whole invasion."

"You guys don't have time to talk, Sasuke-kun needs our help," Sakura screeched as she turned toward the hole that Sasuke used to get out of the stadium.

But before she could go very far a sound nin managed to get behind her and knock her out. Naruto was quick to deal with the enemy nin before he could do any more to Sakura. Naruto then moved her over to a group of Konaha nins that were protecting a group of civilians.

With Sakura taken care of, Naruto and Shikamaru made their way to go after Sasuke. Naruto decided to break the silence between him and Shikamaru as they made their way through the forest.

"Pakkun, if you tell Kakashi any of this I will personally make you an "IT". Understand," Naruto said looking directly at the small pug. Pakkun only nodded wishing to keep that part of his anatomy. Besides, Pakkun doubted that Kakashi would be interested in anything the boys would discuss.

"So, Shikamaru, you really have no problem with me being the vessel of Kyuubi," Naruto asked.

Shikamaru didn't miss the hopeful look that Naruto had before he replied, "Yeah, I don't have any problems with you. The village is a different matter. Besides, it would be for to troublesome for me to hate you," Shikamaru drawled.

"Thanks, Shikamaru," Naruto said gratefully.

"I hate to interrupt your conversation but were being followed by six enemy nins. There all at least chunnin," the pug stated.

"Naruto," Shikamaru said cutting Naruto off. "I know that you would stay behind but if Gaara really is a jinchuriki like you said then you're the only of us that stands a chance against him. So I'm going to stay behind and delay them. I'd rather not but if he's able to get back to Konaha then there will be a lot more than just one death."

During the conversation the duo stopped on one of the larger branches. After Shikamaru finished, Naruto proceeded to do hand seals. With a large puff of smoke a humanoid looking dragon about the size of a grizzly bear appeared.

"Shikamaru, I don't have time to explain how I got the dragon contract but he should be able to make sure you live through this," Naruto said before resuming his mission of helping Sasuke.

"Man, Naruto your way to troublesome for your own good," Shikamaru said as watched Naruto move on.

Naruto rushed through the trees toward Sasuke and Gaara. He racked his brain for a way to try and help Gaara. The main problem Naruto had was he didn't know the root cause of Gaara's instability. Naruto arrived just in time to see Sasuke hit a tree and slump down unconscious. Naruto immediately jumped after Gaara and hit him with all the power he could before Gaara was able to reach Sasuke.

"Why? Why do you interfere," Gaara demanded as turned toward Naruto in his half Shukaku form.

"Because it's my duty as both a shinobi of Konahagakure and as a friend," Naruto replied.

"Why does mother scream so loud for your blood," Gaara asked as he clutched his hand and transformed into a miniature tanuki.

"That is not your mother, nor is it the voice of Shukaku for that matter," Naruto yelled.

The voice in Gaara's head was silent for a moment and then it started screaming at Gaara to kill the blonde kid louder and more maniacal then it had for anyone else. Unknown to the pair of combatants, Temari had just overheard what Naruto told Gaara.

"_What is that kid talking about," _Temari screamed in her head. _"If the voice in Gaara's head isn't the sand demon Shukaku then who's is it?"_

"I'll kill you," Gaara screamed as he lunged at Naruto.

Naruto was surprised by the speed that Gaara's transformed state had despite it's size. He was barely able to avoid the first of Gaara's wild swipes but was unable to avoid the backhand that Gaara followed up with. Naruto hit the tree hard. Naruto knew he would be in trouble if he got hit with many more attacks like the last one.

Opting for a different tactic Naruto created _Kage Bunshins. _The clearing was effectively covered in Naruto clones as a result. Naruto had some of the clones kick Gaara up into the air and have the rest attack Gaara while he was still suspended in the air. Gaara landed with a thud on a tree branch but Naruto knew it would take a lot more to beat the transformed jinchuriki. That was why he had each of the clones attach a exploding note to Gaara during their assault. Naruto barely made it to Sasuke and behind cover before the notes went off.

Naruto was cautious as he made his way back into the clearing. He didn't know to what degree that Gaara's sand was able to protect him from the blast and when dealing with a crazed person that possessed a Bijuu who, incidentally, was sealed inside an unstable redhead, underestimating him would get yourself killed.

"Yes, Uzamaki, I will kill you, I must kill you to prove my existence," came Gaara's semi-demonic voice.

"Why," Naruto asked. "Why do you have to kill me in order to prove your existence?"

"Because I live only for myself and to love only myself," Gaara responded.

"Who's the one that taught you that twisted logic," Naruto asked raiding an eyebrow.

"It is what I have come to find for myself," Gaara started. "My father has sent assassins after me since I was six. My whole village hates and despises me. That is how I found out that everyone else exists for me to kill and as long as I keep killing I have a reason to exist. Now die!!!"

It was at this point that the sand around Gaara exploded outward and then began to take shape. The sand finally stopped shifting in the form a tanuki as big as Gamabunta. Naruto immediately got chakra from Kyuubi and preformed the hand signs for _Kuchiyose no jutsu_.

"Oy, who summoned me at a time like this," Gamabunta questioned.

"Sorry, Boss, but I need you to help me restrain a possessed jinchuriki," Naruto responded.

"I see. Well, as long as the medium doesn't fall asleep we shouldn't have any problems," Gamabunta stated as he drew his dagger.

It was at this time that Gaara emerged from between Shukaku's eyes and used a jutsu to force himself into dreamland. The tanuki's eyes widened for half a second before he took in a big breath of air and proceeded to shoot out air bullets at Naruto and Gamabunta. Gamabunta responded by jumping over the projectiles and charging at Shukaku. The frog boss managed to take off one of the tanuki's legs at the cost of his dagger but was shocked to see the sand starting to reshape effectively re-growing the lost limb.

"Kid, if we're going to have any chance at beating this thing than we need to wake the medium up. Unfortunately I don't have anything to hold Shukaku down while you go and wake the kid up," Gamabunta yelled right before he countered another batch of air bullets with water bullets of his own.

"Gotcha, Boss," Naruto shouted back. _"Kyuubi I need you to give a little more chakra."_

"_Just be careful. You're already near your body's limit," _Kyuubi responded

Naruto once again preformed the _Kuchiyose no jutsu_ as he jumped off of Gamabunta's back. This time he summoned Bahamut.

"Bahamut, I need you to help Gamabunta hold down Shukaku while a wake up his container," Naruto yelled to his summon.

"Alright," Bahamut replied. "Let's go, Gamabunta."

Shukaku was soon unable to move with the two summons holding him down. Naruto jumped down from Bahamut's head onto Shukaku's head. Naruto hit the sand running and started to perform hand seals. He figured now would be as good a time to see if Gaara had any other tenants aside from Shukaku as he woke him up. With Naruto's hands busy with the jutsu and his legs getting tangled in Shukaku's attempt to keep him from waking Gaara, Naruto head-butted Gaara and yelled at him to wake up as he finished his jutsu.

The jutsu created an almost transparent field of chakra that extended outwards. As soon as the field touched Gaara the Shukaku beneath Gaara let out a deafening scream that Naruto knew would be heard in Konaha. As the sand Shukaku disappeared so did Naruto's summons now that there role in the battle was over.

Naruto and Gaara fell to the ground. Naruto was only able to land slightly better than Gaara. Naruto felt exhausted but he knew that Gaara probably felt worse.

"Why? Why can't I kill you," sounded Gaara's stoic voice but it still carried an undertone of exhaustion and fear.

"Because, Gaara, unlike you I have found those that are precious to me and I would rather die than see one of them get hurt," Naruto responded his voice full of determination. "I know your pain all to well. In fact, I almost became just like you."

"How do you know my pain," Gaara asked as he got up.

"Because I too house one of the Bijuu and if you look around you will see that there are people that wish to help you," Naruto said with a sad look in his eyes.

"Who? Who would be willing to help a monster like me," Gaara asked his voice almost sounding desperate.

"For one you are not a monster and from what I can tell your sister would be willing to help you. So would I for that matter," Naruto said pointing to a spot behind Gaara while smiling.

Against his better judgment turned around to see a worried looking Temari half way hiding behind a tree not to far away.

"And how can you help me," Gaara asked as he turned back to Naruto.

"I should be able to fix the seal for Shukaku and if I can't I can bring you to the person who can," Naruto replied.

Gaara nodded in understanding and pulled the top of his shirt off exposing his left shoulder blade. Naruto walked up to Gaara and examined the seal. Naruto mentally cursed whoever put the seal in place. The seal was so poor that even if Shukaku wasn't possessed he would most likely go mad from the stress of the seal. Luckily, Naruto knew how to fix the seal so Shukaku and Gaara could both keep their sanity.

"This is going to hurt," Naruto said right before he did hand signs and then slammed a glowing hand on top of Shukaku's current one.

Gaara shouted out in pain and then fell unconscious. Temari immediately ran out from where she was hiding and caught Gaara.

"He should be fine in a couple of days. His body will need to rest not only from the strain of me changing the seal but from his forced insomnia as well. Now, I suggest you get out of here before any other Leaf shinobi get here," Naruto said when Temari looked at him with her eyes full of concern for her brother.

Right after Naruto finished speaking, Kankuro jumped down next to Temari ready to fight.

"Kankuro, stop. It's over we're leaving," Temari stated as she picked up Gaara and then leapt away.

Shortly after the Suna sibs left, Naruto's world started to spin.

"_Fixing that kid's seal put you over the edge. You'll probably be out for awhile,"_ Kyuubi stated.

Naruto managed to give the equivalent of a mental nod before his world went black and he fell to the ground unconscious.

* * *

_Scene change no jutsu _

"I guess this is goodbye then, Sarutobi," said Enma, the boss of the Sandaime Hokage's ape summons.

The ape boss had tried everything he could to save his old friend but even if he had managed to stop Orochimaru's Kusanagi from stabbing and poisoning his summoner then Sarutobi summoning the Shinigami would have killed him anyway.

"It would appear so, Enma," the third replied softly.

The two old friends were startled when they heard a deep laugh. The pair looked toward the sound to see the Shinigami standing there laughing.

"No, I will not be taking your soul for any reason, Sarutobi. You have made mistakes in your life but you have done certain things to curry favor with those higher than me," the Shinigami stated.

Sarutobi and Enma could not believe what they had just heard. Apparently, Sarutobi was not going to die and what's more he had managed to impress some powerful figures. The pair was broken out of their thoughts when they heard a deafening scream.

"Besides, it looks like I am needed elsewhere right now. But before I go, you will indeed live but you will need someone to wake you up from the coma that the poison will put you in," and with that the Shinigami faded from existence.

Almost immediately the Sandaime lost consciousness and Enma left in a puff of smoke.

* * *

**_FIN_**


	10. Chapter 10

Chapter 10: Hard to Swallow

* * *

It had been two days since the Sound/Sand invasion as it was being called. Sand had recently discovered their murdered Kage out in the dessert and had apparently been there for some time. The Suna council almost immediately started talks with Konaha trying to save face. It would be at least another two weeks before the talks were done.

The aftermath of the invasion was not as bad as it could have been. Thanks to Hayate's warning, leaf was prepared for the attack; but still, with the amount of time and the covertness that Konaha had to use to make the preparations, Konaha still lost some good jounin and chunnin. The worst loss was the Sandaime. Every medic nin in Konaha had looked at him but none were able to wake him up from his coma. And the Sandaime's questionable ability to resume his life as a shinobi if he did wake up was the source of Jiraiya's current headache.

"Please, Jiraiya, we need someone with your strength to be Hokage. At this point, we must assume that Sarutobi will be unable to take up the position again even if he wakes up," Homura, a member of Konaha's council and the Sandaime's former teammate, pleaded.

"I already told you no. Besides, the person I've got in mind not only can be the Godaime Hokage but she can also heal Sarutobi-sensei," Jiraiya countered.

"And who would that be, Jiraiya," asked Koharu Sarutobi's other former teammate and council member.

"Why none other than my former teammate and legendary medic nin, Tsunade," Jiraiya explained.

"While that's true, she swore that she would never return here after what happened to her lover and brother. So how are we going to not only get her back here but also convince her to become the Godaime Hokage," Homura asked.

"Just leave that to me. I'm going to leave tomorrow with my apprentice and look for her," Jiraiya said.

"Who is your apprentice," Koharu asked curious.

"That is none of your concern and before you demand for me to tell you who it is," Jiraiya cut the two council members off. "Sarutobi-sensei already gave me his blessings and told me not to hold anything back when teaching them. Now if you'll excuse me, I have things to do before I leave tomorrow."

* * *

Scene change no jutsu

Naruto was not a happy camper right now. He had been stuck in bed since he woke up this morning after his fight with Gaara and Anko insisted that he stay in bed no matter how many times he said he as okay. Once that argument was settled, Naruto then asked the question how did he get back in his bed in the first place. Anko then explained that apparently Shikamaru and Asuma had found him out in the forest when they came to see if they could help and brought him back to the Kazama estates.

When Naruto had asked Anko how it was explained that he was brought here instead of the hospital or even his old apartment Anko said that Shikamaru told Asuma that he knew about Kyuubi when Asuma looked hesitant to bring you to the hospital. Asuma, feigning ignorance of Shikamaru's knowledge of Kyuubi, asked how did he know about that.

This led Shikamaru explaining everything he overheard in the clearing three months ago. And Asuma, upon hearing the extent of his knowledge, told Shikamaru that his new sensei's home would be the place to bring him. After giving it some thought and talking with Hinata, Naruto asked if Anko could bring him the gennin from team 10 along with Shino so he could talk to them. Anko said she would ask them over about four and ask them to stay for dinner afterwards but only if she could ask Kurenai, Iruka and Asuma as well. Hearing that Naruto added Ayame and her father to the list of people invited and told her to tell Teuchi that he would pay him to come and help with dinner if he was worried about losing any business.

That was an hour ago and it was just now past lunch!

But this gave Naruto plenty of time to think about how exactly he was going to drop the bomb as it were to everyone. Eventually, as usual when Naruto has a lot of time to think, he thought about his life. He finally had friends that saw him for him and not as something else; he had what could be considered an older sister in Anko, a sister that would keep his secrets in Ino and a brother/father figure in Kyuubi and Iruka.

Sure, he still had questions but that mainly revolved around who Upstairs is and things along those lines. Naruto concluded that all and all is life was pretty good at the moment. Alas he forgot to knock on wood again for at that very moment Jiraiya walked into his room.

"What do you want, Ero-sennin," Naruto asked slightly annoyed.

"I just came by to tell you that we'll be leaving tomorrow morning to look for my old teammate, Tsunade, so she can help Sarutobi," Jiraiya replied.

"And why do I need to go with you," Naruto asked raising an eyebrow.

"Because I want the company," Jiraiya said back.

"Do you really expect me to believe that the 'frog _Hermit_' wants company in tracking down someone," Naruto asked putting emphasis on the hermit part.

"Fine, I wanted to teach you a new jutsu," Jiraiya said in a halfway defeated tone.

"Jiraiya-sensei," Naruto said to get the perverts full attention. "You can't grow up living my life without being able to tell when someone is not telling you the truth. Now I want the truth."

"You can't handle the truth," Jiraiya said in a very serious voice.

"You mean the truth that the villagers and ninja felt the chakra that Gaara and I used and without Oji-san to stop them then the village council doesn't have anything standing in the way of having me killed," Naruto said as a statement of fact, not as a question.

Jiraiya's mouth took a moment before it was able to form coherent sentences, "How do you know about that?"

"Let's see now," Naruto started. "Other than the fact that I've seen many of the council members look at me with pure hatred as I went to Oji-san's office. I want to become Hokage, and as such, studied the roles of those that are in charge of running Konaha. I have also studied the powers that the Hokage as well as the council's power."

"Hm, fine you caught me. Now, are you going to come with me or not," Jiraiya asked as he straitened himself out.

"I'll go with you and since I'm telling everyone else I might as well tell you," Naruto said with a sigh. "So be back here at four this afternoon and if you're not here then your just going to have to find out when the rest of Konaha does. Alright?"

Jiraiya nodded in a confused manner before he left to try and puzzle out what Naruto was going to tell him.

Finally four o'clock came around and Naruto sat in his living room with everyone else. Hinata was sitting next to him and since she had been around Naruto a lot, especially in the evenings, she didn't almost faint from being so close to him.

"Hi, first off I would like to thank everyone for coming on such short notice. Now, before I tell you anything you must swear to never tell another in any fashion. If you do, well let's just say it would be like telling someone about the Kyuubi, okay," Naruto asked and once he got everyone word that they wouldn't tell anyone he continued.

"This next little bit some of you already know and others don't. But the Kyuubi was not responsible for his attack on Konaha," Naruto waited for everyone to get over there shock before he continued. "The traitor, Orochimaru, did something similar to putting a genjutsu on him. He's not really sure."

Anko was having the time of her life sitting and watching peoples reactions to Naruto's news. She also knew that if they were shocked at this then they would have a heart attack with what Naruto was about to tell them.

"I'm not done either," Naruto stated to get everyone's attention. "I can't get into details with how or why this happened other than that I did something that most would consider suicidal to do. But Hinata is now living here at my house."

There he said. Now all that was left to do was wait for people to put the pieces of the puzzle together. Surprisingly, almost everyone got Naruto's hint at the same time. Anko couldn't hold back her laughter at Jiraiya's reaction. She was fairly sure that if they were to go to the crevice outside Konaha that Jiraiya's jaw would have hit the bottom, with him still at the top.

Anko was also tempted to go over and see if she could knock the Aburame over with just the wind from waving her hand in front of him. She was so caught up in laughing at everyone that she almost forgot to take pictures so she could laugh at them later as well.

"As I'm sure you guessed by now I am Kazama Naruto, son of Kazama Arashi," Naruto said looking around the room.

"Wha…ho…wh… how can you be Arashi's son," Jiraiya stuttered out.

Everyone else was having a similar reaction to Jiraiya. Although, when people actually bothered to look at Teuchi, the owner of Naruto's favorite ramen stand, he was nodding like he knew all along.

"How come you aren't surprised by this," Anko asked the man voicing her confusion.

The ramen chef immediately felt the need to disappear into his seat.

"Well, no one other than Arashi was able to eat as much ramen as Naruto can and when you add that to the fact the kid is almost identical to how Arashi looked at that age. It's not hard to guess," Teuchi finally managed to get out.

"Will somebody tell me who Kazama Arashi is," Ayame asked.

"Kazama Arashi was better known as Konaha's yellow flash and the Yondaime Hokage," Asuma answered.

The younger generation's minds promptly shut down due to the information overload. Not even Shikamaru's 200 plus I.Q. was able to process the information fast enough.

"And why didn't you tell me," asked an angry Ayame asked her father once her brain restarted.

"Well, Sweetie, I didn't know if anyone else knew and Naruto had enough problems without Arashi's old enemies coming after him as well," Teuchi said waving his hands in front of him hoping to calm down his angry daughter.

It seemed to work as Ayame slowly lost the angry expression on her face. It took quite some time before Naruto was able to answer everybody's questions. He told the group everything, including the sword copying ability of his Reiki Rei. During that time, Anko snuck out of the room and started to prepare diner for everyone and once Naruto noticed what Anko was doing he made some Kage Bunshins to help her out.

Everyone enjoyed dinner. Naruto found that the ramen that Teuchi cooked tasted really good now that hadn't eaten it for a while. But all good things must come to an end and everyone left thanking Naruto for trusting them enough to keep the information they were told a secret Jiraiya left telling him that the two of them would leave tomorrow after breakfast from the Kazama estate. One of the things that everyone told before they left was that it was never to be mentioned that Naruto had any relationship with the Yondaime unless they were alone where the wall didn't have ears.

* * *

_Scene change no jutsu _

"So, when are you going to teach me that jutsu, Ero-sennin," Naruto asked.

It had been a week since Naruto and Jiraiya had left Konaha to look for Tsunade. Jiraiya had hoped Naruto forgot that little detail about him teaching him a jutsu. Jiraiya also knew that unless it was a jutsu that was very difficult to master then Naruto would have done in no time and be bugging him to teach him a another one. And that would not do. He needed his research time after all!

"Fine, the jutsu I'm going to teach you is one of the Yondaime's prized ones. The Rasengan," Jiraiya told the blonde jinchuriki.

Naruto gave Jiraiya his full attention as Jiraiya proceeded to demonstrate the Rasengan to him. The swirling ball of chakra in Jiraiya's hand easily turned the tree it was smashed into to mere splinters.

"Here," Jiraiya said as he tossed Naruto a filled water balloon. "You have to learn this jutsu in three stages. The first one is using your chakra to make the water in the balloon spin fast enough that the balloon pops. Once you get that done I'll show you the next step."

Naruto only spent the next half hour practicing before they got to close to a town for him to continue. The pair found a fairly cheap hotel to check into but Jiraiya saw something that peeked his interest. In others words, a young good looking woman. Jiraiya tossed Naruto the keys to the room and walked off without a second thought.

Naruto sighed as he went off to go relax in his hotel room. After he laid down on the bed with his hands above his head, he decided that he definitely needed a bath. It was sometime after his bath while he was pondering who Upstairs is, that Naruto heard a knock from his hotel door. Figuring it was his perverted sensei Naruto went and opened the door but when it wasn't Jiraiya at the door Naruto told off the person he recognized.

"Go away, Sasuke-teme, I don't have the time nor the energy to deal with your god complex," and then Naruto proceeded to slam the door in his face.

It took till Naruto made half-way back to his bed to realize that it wasn't actually Sasuke at the door.

On the other side of the door, the people just stood there blinking, well one of them was.

"Did that kid just slam the door in our face, Itachi," a blue face man asked with annoyance in his voice.

"Yes he did, Kisame," Itachi responded in a tone that was a cross between Shino's and Shikamaru's.

"That's what I thought," Kisame replied right before the door opened up again.

"Who are you and what do you want," Naruto asked a little impatiently.

"Our organization, Akatsuki, would like to talk to you. So please come with us," Itachi stated.

"Why should I follow you two bozos anywhere," Naruto asked.

"Come on. Can't I just take a leg off and then drag him back, Itachi," Kisame said with a smile that made him look deranged with his shark like teeth.

Naruto jumped back when he heard Kisame say Itachi's name. The group of three then heard someone scream at Itachi from down the hall. Itachi and Kisame turned to see Sasuke charging with a Chidori. Itachi effortlessly grabbed Sasuke's wrist as Sasuke tried to stab him with the Chidori.

Itachi slammed Sasuke's hand into a wall causing the Chidori to dissipate and broke Sasuke's wrist before saying, "Why are you so weak, little brother? Your hate must not be strong enough. Let me remind you why you hate me, Tsukuyomi," Itachi stated in a emotionless tone.

Sasuke almost immediately screamed and then collapsed to the ground unconscious. Itachi casually tossed Sasuke into a wall hard enough to break said wall.

"Well, if Itachi is going to have some fun then so am I," Kisame said as he watched Sasuke crumple down against the wall.

Kisame then grabbed what looked to Naruto like a sword handle. Naruto jumped back right before Kisame brought his sword down were Naruto was just standing. The sword smashed into the floor leaving a hole. Naruto noticed that the sword appeared to be shaving the floor rather than cutting it.

Naruto wasted no time in using his blood line to recreate Hayate's tsurugi sword_ (akin to the Kusanagi)_. He would have preferred to use Kubikiri Houcho but the tsurugi gave him an edge in mobility over Kisame's sword in the narrow halls.

"That chakra blade won't do you any good," Kisame laughed. "My Samehade eats chakra!"

Kisame once again attacked Naruto with a downward strike. The speed that Kisame attacked with forced Naruto to block using his sword. Naruto could only hope his gamble would pay off. Kisame smiled as their swords met but that changed to a look of shock as Naruto's sword didn't disappear. Although, Kisame's smile quickly returned as Naruto's sword started to apparently dissipate.

"Your sword did well to last this long against my Samehade, but it looks like you're out of luck, Brat," Kisame taunted.

"I don't know about that as I tend to have great luck in a fight and at the table," Naruto responded.

Kisame and Itachi's face showed shock as Naruto's sword shifted into a perfect copy of the Samehada. Naruto managed to capitalize on Kisame's surprise. He got out from under Kisame's sword and then let his own blade drop toward the ground.

This sudden maneuver put Kisame off balance long enough for Naruto to use the power of Kisame pushing his sword down and turn into a spin attack that ended in a straight thrust that managed to catch Kisame in the side of his stomach. Kisame let out a curse as he leapt back to take a look at his wound.

"You got careless, Kisame," Itachi stated. "It looks like I will have to clean up your mess again."

Naruto knew he was in trouble. He had managed to get a decent hit on Kisame simply because he managed to surprise the fish nin. Naruto turned his attention to Itachi as he cursed Jiraiya and his perverted ways. Naruto locked eyes with Itachi before everything went dark.

Naruto's vision came back a minute later but all the colors were messed up and he was strapped to a cross.

"Welcome to the world of the Tsukuyomi," Itachi said as he appeared in front of Naruto.

"I control everything in this world. For the next seventy-two hours I will torture you by stabbing you repeatedly with this sword."

"_This is just frelling great! I'm stuck in some world that a psychopath has complete control over and no help," _Naruto screamed mentally.

"**_Not exactly, Kit," _**Kyuubi said. **_"This is actually your mind. He's just using a jutsu to control it. You can force him out of here. As soon as you do though, I need you to use the same jutsu I showed you that frees possessed people."_**

"_You think their possessed," _Naruto as back while trying to ignore the pain from Itachi stabbing him.

"**_I don't know about fish-face but I'm definitely feeling another mind in here with us,"_** Kyuubi replied.

"_Okay, here goes nothing," _Naruto said.

Naruto then proceeded to concentrate on kicking Itachi out of his mind. Itachi meanwhile stopped stabbing Naruto when he noticed his world was starting to shift and come apart.

"I would love to have you stay but one voice in my head is more than enough," Naruto told Itachi right before the Tsukuyomi fell apart sending them both back to the real world.

Naruto opened his eyes to see Itachi drop to one knee. Figuring it was do or die Naruto charged forward dong hand seals. When he got close enough to both Itachi and Kisame, Naruto unleashed his jutsu.

Both Kisame and Itachi screamed when the chakra field hit them. The two missing-nins slumped against a wall groaning.

"What happened," Naruto heard Itachi say under his breath.

"Why do I feel like I've been hit with a sushi truck," Kisame groaned.

The two freed nins were still too out of it to try and begin to know what was going on around them.

"Naruto, get away from them," Jiraiya shouted as he rounded the corner.

"Ero-sennin, next time you try to play hero please show up _before_ the fight is over," Naruto said shaking his head as he sat down against the wall.

"You two might want to take it easy for a while," Naruto said addressing the two missing-nins.

"Where am I," Itachi asked as he slowly looked around.

"Well, you're not in Konaha anymore, Weasel," Naruto joked.

That statement caught not only Itachi's attention but also Kisame's. They both looked at Naruto tell they heard someone comng down the hall towards them.

"Jiraiya-sama? Do you have any idea what's going on," Itachi asked when he recognized the sannin.

"No, I don't," Jiraiya said still cautious of the duo. "Although, it appears that my baka apprentice does."

All eyes turned to Naruto with a questioning gaze in them.

Naruto sighed before saying, "I don't know everything that's going on but apparently the two of you were possessed by something that took control of your bodies and locked you within your own mind."

Everyone else's eyes went wide at the proclamation.

"I…I remember now fighting one of that Mizukage-teme's lackeys when something hit me. After that I remember feeling something slowly take over my mind," Kisame said as he memory of the event returned.

"Did, the same thing happen to you," Jiraiya asked Itachi.

"Almost, what happened to the Uchiha clan," Itachi asked fearing that his memory was right.

"You don't know," Itachi could only shake his head no at Jiraiya's question. "You killed all of them but your younger brother for some reason."

That statement confirmed Itachi's worst nightmare and what his memory was telling him.

"No, I didn't kill them," Itachi stated with an air of finality." Whatever took over my body did. That thing forced me to kill my best friend to acquire the Mangekyou sharingan a few days after it took control of my body but before my mind was locked away."

"Do you know why that it made you kill your best friend before it locked away your mind and do you even know what possessed you for that matter," Jiraiya asked.

"All I know about the thing that took over of my body was that it wanted power and that it feared the sharingan," Itachi replied. "The only reason I can think of for it to fear the sharingan was that I was able to tell that there was something was off about my opponent. It was only after the thing left my enemies body for mine that I realized that my opponent was being controlled. As to why I was still able to be in possession of my mind when I killed my best friend, the Mangekyou sharingan can only be achieved is by killing your best friend. Although, it's rather ironic that I'm the only one to intentionally kill my best friend and achieve the Mangekyou sharingan, in a way at least."

"What do you mean," Jiraiya asked finally relaxing.

"The Mangekyou sharingan is activated by the grief of killing your best friend. If you kill your best friend willingly then you can't truly grieve their loss," Itachi explained.

"Why don't you come back to Konaha. I'm sure that once your situation has been explained there won't be any charges against you," Naruto asked.

"That would be nice," Itachi said wit a sigh. "But there's something I need to do before I can go back to Konaha."

"What about you Kisame," Naruto asked.

"Maybe later. I would like to see the world before that and I think tagging along with Itachi here is the best way to do that. That is, if he doesn't mind," Kisame told responded.

"It's fine with me," Itachi replied. "Can you explain what happened to us to the Hokage, Jiraiya-sama?"

"I'm not sure I should even let you two go. How do I know that this isn't some elaborate hoax," Jiraiya calmly responded.

"Because Kyuubi says that without a doubt they were possessed," Naruto stated nonchalantly.

"Fine," Jiraiya said with a defeated sigh. "I'll explain everything to the Hokage and make sure your taken off our bingo books."

"Arigato, Jiraiya-sama," Itachi and Kisame said at the same time.

"Do you think it's possible that maybe the other Akatsuki members are also being possessed," Naruto asked Jiraiya as Kisame and Itachi left.

"It's possible," Jiraiya said.

The pair then heard a shout. They turned to see what it was only for Jiraiya to get knocked into the wall by a kick to the head.

"Jiraiya-sama," the attacker now identified as Gai yelled. "I'm sorry! That was very un-youthful of me to do! To make it up I will run around Konaha three hundred times and if I cannot do that I will..."

"What was that for," Jiraiya yelled getting up and, thankfully, interrupting Gai.

"He used his forehead protector to look around the corner and attacked you thinking you were Itachi," Asuma answered for Gai.

"Just be more careful next time. Take Sasuke back to Konaha with. Itachi and Kisame are no longer a threat to Konaha," Jiraiya stated.

While the group from Konaha had questions about how Itachi and Kisame were no longer a threat, they didn't question Jiraiya. Gai picked up Sasuke and made his way back to Konaha along with the rest of the group. Now that all the excitement was over, Jiraiya told Naruto to get some rest in his room, which was miraculously still usable.

_Scene change no jutsu _

It had been a week since the incident with Akatsuki happened. Naruto, much to Jiraiya's astonishment and mortification, had managed to get the first two steps of the Rasengan down four days ago. Naruto was stuck on the last step. He wasn't able to keep a shell of chakra and spin the chakra inside the shell at the same time. He had an idea on how to fix that problem but couldn't try it since they were almost always on the move. He couldn't even keep practicing the Rasengan as they went because the backlash from a failed one exploded in his face sending him flying.

Jiraiya had finally found a tip as to where Tsunade could be, Tanzaku City. The two arrived at the town at about mid-day. The pair ran into a portion of destroyed wall that was next to a crater in the ground. Jiraiya commented that it was definitely Tsunade's handiwork and they had been searching for her ever since.

"Ero-sennin, do you know where's the best place to get some booze in this town," Naruto asked finally fed up with the search.

"Yeah, why," Jiraiya replied slightly confused from Naruto's statement.

"Because if my nose was correct in smelling a certain snake, then Tsunade is probably trying to drown herself in sake," Naruto said with a wave of his hand.

While Jiraiya didn't want to admit it, but Naruto had a point. Besides, he could use a good drink himself. Naruto and Jiraiya didn't get to the bar until a little before sundown and, sure enough, Jiraiya saw Tsunade and what he guessed was her assistant Shizune at a table holding a pig.

"Hello, Tsunade-hime," Jiraiya greeted.

"Great, what do you want you pervert," Tsunade replied curtly.

"What, can't an old teammate stop by to visit every now and again," Jiraiya asked back as he and Naruto sat down.

"No," Tsunade stated right before she took another drink of sake.

"As touching a reunion as this is, could you tell us what Orochimaru offered you in exchange for you restoring his arms," Naruto asked bluntly causing Shizune's and Tsunade's eyes to widen for a second.

"Hey, Jiraiya, who the brat. He's even dumber than your last apprentice," Tsunade asked completely ignoring Naruto's question.

"He's actually my new apprentice but down to business."

"I already know Sensei is dead," Tsunade said interrupting Jiraiya.

"You should know better than to listen to a forked tongue snake you old hag," Naruto said.

"Your new apprentice even has the same mouth as your last one, Jiraiya," Tsunade said as she once again took a swig of sake after reigning in her temper.

"Actually, he's worse. Anyway, Sensei is actually alive and the council wants you to come back to try and heal him and also become the next Hokage," Jiraiya said business tone.

Naruto eyes widened when he heard Jiraiya say that.

"Why would the council want such a poor excuse for not only a ninja but also a person as the Hokage" Naruto nearly shouted.

"Watch your mouth brat," Tsunade said as she narrowed her eyes at Naruto. "But it really doesn't matter what the council, or anyone else says I refuse to take a job that only fools would take."

"How can you say that about the Hokage's who've given everything they had for the village," Naruto said as he gripped the table.

"Because everyone that has taken the job has died young for some foolish cause," Tsunade countered. "The Sandaime always spouted stuff off about the 'spirit of fire' and all that and look where it got him, crippled. And the Yondaime was an even bigger fool with all the self-righteous things he said and then sacrificing himself to defeat the Kyuubi."

It was at this point that Naruto lost it. He lunged over the table and took a swing at Tsunade that might have hit if Jiraiya hadn't caught him.

"Don't you _dare_ sit there and insult the title I dream to hold or say that the two people that I respect most were fools because they were willing to die for what they believe," Naruto said between clinched teeth. "They actually fought now matter what happened. You, on the other hand, had some bad stuff happen to you and what did you do? You ran away! Life sucks, get over with. Instead of trying to get under it by drinking the rest of your life away."

"You want to fight, Brat? Fine! Let's take this outside," Tsunade said now equally as angry as Naruto.

Naruto proceeded to make his way outside while Shizune was trying to talk Tsunade out of the fight.

"Relax, Shizune, and enjoy the fight. Tsunade is in for a real shock," Jiraiya said placating Shizune's protests.

"Are you ready you baa-chan," Naruto shouted.

"Ha, I'll only need one finger to beat a brat like you," Tsunade replied letting the jab at her age slide.

Naruto quickly reached into his pouch and took out some kunai that had explosive notes on them. He threw them at Tsunade who easily caught them. She wondered what Naruto was up until she saw the explosive notes on the kunai. She threw the kunai in the air. She, along with Shizune, shielded their eyes when the tags went off.

Naruto grinned as he saw his distraction work. He had a plan that was risky but he knew that there was no way for him to beat a sannin unless that sannin held back and underestimated him.

Tsunade was doing both.

Naruto used the distraction to quickly create a clone and go under ground via the Shinjuu Zanshu no Jutsu (_Headhunter Jutsu_). Tsunade looked back to Naruto to see him charging at her with a kunai in his hand. She smirked as she drove her finger into the ground creating a fissure that raced toward Naruto. Everyone was surprised when Naruto jumped over the fissure without missing a beat.

Naruto tried to come down and slash Tsunade with the kunai as he fell. Tsunade sidestepped the attack and hit Naruto in the forehead with her finger flick of doom as Naruto turned to face her. Everyone was shocked to see Naruto burst into smoke. Before the smoked cleared, Naruto came up from the ground behind Tsunade. Tsunade barely had time to turn around before she felt a sharp object place at her throat.

"You lose you old hag. I don't know why Ero-sennin ever thought that a decrepit old drunk such as yourself would ever make a good Hokage. I'm going to go work on the Rasengan," Naruto said. He then removed his blood line version of Kubikiri Houcho go as he turned to leave.

Tsunade's mind was going a mile a minute. She couldn't believe she had lost but what was most perplexing was the sword the Naruto used to beat her. Although all her questions stopped when she heard him talk about practicing the Rasengan.

"You're trying to learn the Rasengan," Tsunade nearly shouted.

"No, I'm not trying to learn the Rasengan I am learning the Rasengan," Naruto replied evenly.

"Like a lucky brat like you could ever learn the Yondaime's prized jutsu," Tsunade shot back.

"I bet I could learn it in three days the old fashioned way," Naruto replied in the same voice as before.

"Fine then. I'll give you a week to learn it. If you can't you'll give up your dream of becoming Hokage," Tsunade said.

"And what would happen when I win," Naruto asked raising an eyebrow.

"If by chance you win, I'll become the next Hokage and give this necklace that was given to me by my grandfather, the Shodai Hokage," Tsunade said lifting said necklace.

"Tsunade, you can't," Shizune gasped.

Tsunade gave a glare to Shizune that clearly said that she didn't want her to say anymore.

"If you toss in healing Old Man Hokage then you have a deal," Naruto said after a moment of thought.

Tsunade nodded in agreement to his condition. With that Naruto set out to train with the Rasengan as he originally intended.

_FIN_

**REVIEW or Smiley, Grinm, Jason, Freddy and Anko will force you to watch twenty-four hours of Lee and Gai- sensei's Training video, _You and your Youthfulness_. (I pity the fool.)**


	11. Chapter 11

**Chapter 11: Painful Reunion

* * *

**

Tsunade, Jiraiya and Shizune proceeded to walk back into the bar after Naruto left. The group sat there for about ten more minutes before Jiraiya's laughing drove Tsunade mad. The main reason for this was because it wasn't his usual perverted laugh. No, this was an 'I know something you don't' laugh.

"What's so frelling funny, Jiraiya," Tsunade almost shouted.

"Well, did you ever wonder what Naruto meant by 'learn the Rasengan the old fashioned way'," Jiraiya asked still laughing.

"No, why should I," Tsunade said thinking that Jiraiya had finally lost it.

"He knows the Kage Bunshin and everything that goes with it," Jiraiya said as he stopped laughing with a smug smile on his face.

Tsunade's really didn't think much of that bit of information. Did it really matter if the brat could train slightly faster? Shizune on the other hand was clueless as to what Jiraiya was implying.

"Could someone tell me what's so great about knowing everything about the Kage Bunshin," Shizune said voicing her confusion.

"Basically, there is a little known fact that whatever a Kage Bunshin learns is transferred back to the user of the jutsu when it's dispelled. But it really isn't that big of a deal seeing as most people don't have the chakra to keep a clone around while training for more than thirty minutes," Tsunade explained.

"What if I told you that that brat, as you call him, could hold a hundred clones all day without any trouble," Jiraiya replied with that same smug smile on as before.

Tsunade and Shizune's eyes went wide at the implications of being able to do that.

"How? That's not possible," Tsunade stuttered while Shizune shook her head in agreement.

"You mean to tell me that you didn't recognize that kid? Everyone in Konaha knows him just by the marks on his face," Jiraiya said.

Tsunade and Shizune thought what on the kids face would give him away. The only thing that was odd about was the whisker-like markings. While Tsunade knew who it was once she remembered the marks, Shizune took a little longer since she left Konaha and never actually saw or heard much about him.

"You mean to tell me that that's him," Tsunade said as the realization dawned on her.

"Yes, it is him," Jiraiya confirmed. "And he has bigger secrets than anyone ever thought he could and I'm not talking about his furry friend."

"What do you mean," Tsunade asked.

"All I can say is that Orochimaru is the reason that Naruto's life has been less than ideal," Jiraiya said solemnly.

"Really? What life has Orochimaru forced him to live," Tsunade asked not understanding what Jiraiya was talking about.

"If I told you, you would want to go and kill most of Konaha and once he trusts you enough to tell you about himself you're going to want to kill most of Konaha in the slowest and most painful ways possible. That's if the villagers don't kill themselves when they find out who he truly is," Jiraiya said cryptically.

"Just tell me already, Pervert," Tsunade growled out.

"Fine, but only once we get to a hotel," Jiraiya said in a very serious voice.

It took about an hour to find a hotel that everyone, meaning Jiraiya and Tsunade, could agree on. They got two rooms next to eachother. Almost as soon as they got in the room, Tsunade started to demand that Jiraiya tell her what was going on. Jiraiya nodded and made a barrier around the room to keep people from listening in. He then proceeded to tell Tsunade Naruto's life, at least what he knew of it.

To say that Tsunade and Shizune were disgusted would be an under statement. They were down right horrified that people could treat an innocent boy that badly. After Jiraiya finished his story, Tsunade went to get more sake, Jiraiya left to go do some 'research' and Shizune simply stayed in the hotel to do some thinking.

_Scene change no jutsu _

The next day Tsunade and Jiraiya continued their activities from the previous day while Shizune set out to find Naruto and see if she could get him to tell her if what Jiraiya told was all of it or just the sugar coated version. She eventually found him in a clearing full of boulders right outside the city with a small river running next to it. She was amazed at what he had done. In a little over eighteen hours he had managed to create a lot of damage to the landscape. She watched him make ball after ball of chakra and then ram it into a boulder for three hours before Naruto laid down to take a break.

"You can come out now, Shizune-san," Naruto said without getting up.

Shizune was shocked and a little embarrassed that she had been caught spying on Naruto as he trained.

"How did you know it was me," Shizune asked as sat down next to Naruto.

"I recognized your scent from last night," Naruto replied. "I guess you want to know if what Ero-sennin told you and Tsunade last night was everything that happened to me during my life. Let me tell you now that the rest is not pretty."

"Yes, I would like to know. That is, if your willing to share it with me," Shizune said.

Naruto sat up and looked at her for a brief moment. He didn't know why he would be telling someone he barely knew all that happened in his life, something that he hasn't even told Anko. But he guessed it was the fact she had never been in Konaha and had treated him like a normal person from the start is what did it.

It could even be the simple fact that he was tired of keeping it all in and wanted to tell someone, anyone, as long as they truly wanted to know, and Naruto could tell that Shizune did, simply by her posture and voice. Growing up like he did, it was either learn to read people like they were an open book to avoid getting beat up or be killed, although the latter still happened on many occasions.

Naruto then proceeded to tell Shizune about his life. He told her the truth about the Kyuubi's attack. About how in the orphanage he would have died in the first month alone if he wasn't immune to all the poisons his caretakers tried to kill him with. When he decided to put on a mask to keep people from knowing just how badly they hurt him and how truly lonely he felt. How all the teachers at the academy ignored him, asked questions that most chunnin wouldn't know, how they would use a genjutsu on his tests to make sure he failed and once his class was taught to recognize and dispel genjutsus the teachers simply changed his answers.

He told her that by the end of the first month in the academy he decided it was better just to keep his emotions hidden. How he played the class clown to avoid unwanted attention. When he decided to start his own training at age six, how his training was based on what he was able to watch others do and trying to get away from people after his pranks. How his pranks were mainly there to keep himself going insane because of his treatment and loneliness. He even told her about the first time he killed someone.

"Wait, you meant to tell me that killed someone when you where nine," Shizune asked clearly shocked that someone would try to kill a nine year kid and sad that Naruto's innocence was taken at such a young age.

"Yeah, he was a missing-nin from sand," Naruto said in a low tone. "He was only low chunnin at most. He made the mistake of underestimating me during our fight. He was so shocked at the speed I rushed him at that that he missed the kunai that I threw at him. He was dead before he hit the ground. I always figured that some villager paid the guy to kill me. He wasn't the last missing-nin but I think the village just figured that all of the missing-nin were either captured before they got to me by ANBU or just ran away with their money. The attempts finally stopped right before I graduated."

"You know," Naruto said with a small chuckle. "It's rather ironic that people have tried to kill me my whole life because of Kyuubi but if he didn't attack I still would have had to deal with assassination attempts."

"What do you mean," Shizune asked not understanding why assassins would be after him even without the Kyuubi.

Naruto decided to go ahead and tell Shizune about his heritage. So, he leaned in and whispered into her ear the truth about his lineage.

"You're his son," Shizune screamed as her eyes went as wide as ramen bowls.

"Yeah, I am but you can't tell anyone, not even Tsunade," Naruto said as he sat back down.

"No kidding," Shizune said in a daze. "Oh, no…that means," Shizune said as her eyes widened again.

"What," Naruto asked when Shizune's faced turned to horror.

"She traveled with us for almost a year," Shizune gasped in a barely audible voice apparently not hearing Naruto's question.

"Who," Naruto asked growing frantic as to what Shizune was so shacked about.

"Your mother," Shizune finally said so low that Naruto barely head her.

It was then that Shizune's reaction made sense to Naruto. His father's marriage to his mother wasn't a secret like everyone would have thought, mainly because after his father's death she was just your average shinobi. Meanwhile, Shizune simply couldn't believe that the very person that Naruto was looking had traveled with her for almost a year.

"How long ago and do you know where she might be right now," Naruto asked almost frantic for information.

"It's been four years or so. So I don't have a clue as to where she might be. I'm sorry Naruto-kun," Shizune said barely keeping her emotions in check.

"It's fine. It's just that no one knows where she is and it not possible to send anyone after her other than Jiraiya really," Naruto said as his eyes lost some of their warmth.

"Hey, I've been meaning to ask you where you got that chakra sword from," Shizune said to get on a less depressing subject.

"Actually, I found it up my teammate, Sasuke's, rear," Naruto said as he watched Shizune laugh at his joke. "I mean I always knew he had something up it, but something this big? Then it took me forever to actually get it clean."

Neither Naruto nor Shizune could hold in their laughter at this point and both gripped their sides as they laughed. After Naruto's joke lightened the mood, Naruto spent the rest of the day talking with Shizune about the rest of his life, Shizune's own life and even just mundane things like the weather. Although, Naruto once again made sure not to mention anything related to Upstairs.

Naruto enjoyed the talk immensely. He rarely had the chance to sit and talk like he did with Shizune and even then it was only with Anko and occasionally Hinata. The pair didn't seem to notice, however, the two shadows that had been there the entire time. Jiraiya had always suspected that Naruto told everyone the sugar coated version of his life but he was unprepared to hear what Naruto's life had truly been.

He now knew why he had never told anyone before. Naruto's treatment was enough even for him to question his loyalties to Konaha. Jiraiya sped away to talk with the other shadow that listened to the conversation.

"So, what do you think of him now, Tsunade," Jiraiya asked when he caught up to her. "Even after everything that's happened to him he wants to be the Hokage or die trying."

Tsunade for her part was torn. Naruto reminded her so much of those that she had lost and at the same time suffered far worse than she had. She really didn't know what to think or do right then.

"I-I don't know" Tsunade said before she left.

_Scene change no jutsu _

It had been three days since Naruto talked with Shizune and she had come back everyday since to bring Naruto lunch and talk to him. Jiraiya did more 'research' and made sure to check in on Naruto every once in a while lest Anko kill him when they got back. Tsunade herself was the biggest puzzle out of them all. She hadn't had a drop of alcohol since she heard the full version of Naruto's life. She had been wandering from place to place thinking about her past and what Naruto said to her when they first met.

She had finally decided to go and watch Naruto train for a little while to see how the bet was coming. She arrived at the field where Naruto was training and her jaw hit the floor. Naruto and a hundred or so Kage Bunshin were fighting on top of the small river.

"So, do you believe me now, Tsunade-hime," Jiraiya asked as he walk up to Tsunade.

"I get the part about training with the clones but I don't see how doing chakra control or whatever he's doing is going to help him learn the Rasengan. Besides, he just lost the bet by using clones," Tsunade stated once she picked up her jaw.

"Actually, the Rasengan is nothing more than chakra manipulation i.e. control and he isn't practicing the Rasengan so he hasn't lost the bet," Jiraiya corrected. "But I was confused at first too because Naruto mastered water walking over a month ago. That is until I took a closer look at what he and the clone are doing."

Tsunade decided to see what the pervert was talking about but no matter how hard she looked Naruto just looked liked he was practicing water while fighting with Kage Bunshin.

"I still don't get what he's doing, Jiraiya," Tsunade stated still confused.

"I suppose it is a little hard to see from this distance without a telescope," Jiraiya said rather sheepishly. "He's keeping a blade of grass on his forehead as he's sparing with his clones."

"That still doesn't explain how what he's doing will help him learn the Rasengan," Tsunade ground out getting frustrated.

"I was just getting to that," Jiraiya said with a huff. "The hardest part about the Rasengan is keeping the outer shell together while you rotate the center and he's able to practice doing both by doing the leaf and water walking exercise at the same time. It's rather ingenious really. Neither Arashi or myself actually thought about doing that."

"Can't you do that when you try to do all three steps," Tsunade asked.

"Yes, you can, but if you fail to actually make a Rasengan it blows up, not to mention the chakra burns from making that many Rasengans is very harmful to the chakra coils in the hands," Jiraiya explained.

Tsunade's eyes widened when she realized why Jiraiya was so impressed with Naruto's training method.

"So you're telling me that brat has found a way to practice the control for the Rasengan without any negative side effects," Tsunade asked as she gaped like a fish.

Jiraiya just nodded in confirmation of Tsunade's assessment.

_Scene change no jutsu _

Naruto awoke feeling groggy and knew he shouldn't have pushed himself so hard working on the Rasengan last night. As he became aware of his surroundings, he noticed that he wasn't in his training clearing. He was, in fact, in a hotel. Naruto figured that Shizune probably brought him to the hotel last night when she came to visit.

Shizune and Naruto had gotten surprisingly close in a short amount of time. Naruto guessed that telling her all about his life had something to do with that. But sill, Shizune had come to visit him everyday when he was training and she also brought food for him when she did so, for which Naruto was thankful.

Naruto sat up wondering how long he had been asleep when Shizune stepped out of the bathroom.

"How long was I out," Naruto asked as he yawned.

Shizune's eyes widened for a second before she spoke, "You've only been out since last night. Though, you should've been out for at least three days from chakra exhaustion."

"I know," Naruto said with a shrug of his shoulders. "Being practically able to heal overnight is a perk of having Fuzzy in me."

Shizune nodded at the same time she slapped herself for forgetting about Naruto's tenant. The conversation might have continued if Jiraiya had not staggered into the room after almost knocking the door down.

"Jiraiya-sama, what happened," Shizune cried out as she went to help the pervert.

"Tsunade gave me some kind of drug that messes up my chakra. Do you know where she's is," Jiraiya responded.

Once again Shizune's eyes widened as she remembered what was suppose to happen today.

"She must have gone to meet Orochimaru," Shizune gasped.

Naruto cursed when he heard that.

"Come on, we've got to find her," Naruto almost shouted as he made his way toward the window.

At the moment, Naruto was glad that Anko had forced him to learn how to track something by its scent form one of her summons. With that experience, it didn't take very long for him to find where Tsunade was. The group was just in time to see a young silver haired nin throw something on Tsunade. He then raised a kunai in the air to kill the immobilized women.

"You frelling coward," Naruto shouted as he tried to kick the enemy nin.

The nin backed off to avoid Naruto's kick and then had to jump once again to avoid needles that were thrown at him by Shizune.

"Naruto, you and Shizune take care of him while I deal with Orochimaru," Jiraiya said as right before he took off towards said man.

"Ah, Naruto, it's good to see you," the silver haired nin said as he pushed up his glasses.

"I don't know how you know my name because I've never seen you before in my life," Naruto stated calmly.

"My mistake, I forget you were off talking to other people while I talked to your teammates at the first test of the chunnin exam as a fellow leaf nin. My name is Kabuto," the man now identified as Kabuto said calmly.

"You better be glad that I didn't talk to you then," Naruto in the same voice as before.

"Really? Why is that," Kabuto said slightly amused.

"Because you reek of snakes and…please tell me you didn't do _that_ with Orochimaru," Naruto finished in a slightly panicked voice.

"I have no idea what you mean, Naruto," Kabuto said acting like he didn't know what Naruto was talking about.

For some reason Kabuto had decided that they had done enough talking and attacked but if you would have asked Naruto he would have said Kabuto didn't want to confirm his suspicions.

"Shizune, guard Tsunade," Naruto yelled as he jumped back to avoid Kabuto's punch.

Shizune quickly shouted yes and then ran to Tsunade's side where she began to clean the blood off Tsunade. Tsunade, however, had started to focus on Naruto and Kabuto's fight. She couldn't believe that a mere gennin was willing to take on an extremely powerful jounin just to protect her. Tsunade began to worry as she continued to watch Kabuto toy with Naruto.

_"Frell, he's definitely faster than me," _Naruto screamed in his mind.

**_"You could always drop your weights,"_** _Kyuubi_ said during a pause in the fighting.

_"I highly doubt that it would matter if I had my weights on or off. This is Orochimaru's right hand man apparently. As such, I would rather keep my weights on and be able to surprise them later," _Naruto shot back.

Kyuubi agreed with Naruto's choice of actions. Better to have an enemy beat you senseless and not show anything than to show everything and not lose as badly.

"It's not wise of you to space out like that in the middle of a fight, Naruto," Kabuto taunted. "All the information I have on you says that you're a weak and pathetic ninja that daydreams of being Hokage. If you ever want to fulfill that fantasy you need to run away like the weak ninja you are so I don't kill you."

Tsunade couldn't believe what Kabuto was doing. He was practically saying the exact same she had thought about Naruto. And she had learned the hard way not to underestimate the blonde. It was at this point that both Tsunade and Kabuto heard Naruto laughing.

"If I may ask, where did you get that information," Naruto said still laughing softly.

"I got it from your file in Konaha. Why," Kabuto replied puzzled at Naruto's merriment.

Naruto responded by charging at Kabuto. Kabuto responded by doing activating the Chakra no Mesu _(Chakra Scalpel)_. Naruto cursed when he saw the technique. He didn't have the control for it but he definitely recognized a medic-nin's favorite weapon. Naruto threw a punch towards Kabuto's face that Kabuto ducked under. Kabuto retaliated by swinging a hand towards Naruto's heart. Naruto prayed that his bloodline would be able to offer at least a small amount of protection from Kabuto's attack as he grabbed the hand that was moving towards his heart. Naruto's hand hurt, but the pain was worth it to see Kabuto's disbelieving face at what he had just done.

"Very clever of you, Naruto, you covered your hand in chakra protecting you from my attack," Kabuto said as his face turned from disbelief into an arrogant smirk.

Naruto saw the smirk and immediately kicked Kabuto away but in doing so Kabuto was able to cut some tendons in his leg with the Chakra no Mesu in his other hand.

Naruto watched as Kabuto easily controlled his fall and stopped like nothing had happened.

_"This is just frelling great,"_ Naruto swore in his mind. _"Just how am I supposed to beat this guy?" _

Naruto's thoughts were interrupted by Kabuto dodging poison needles from Shizune.

"Ah, ah, ah, I can't have you interfering I this little fight," Kabuto said mockingly right before he seemed to disappear.

"Kuso, Shizune move," Naruto yelled as he moved toward her. "He's right below you!"

Shizune barely had enough time to process what Naruto said when something gripped her ankles and an intense pain shot through them at the same time. Naruto saw Kabuto grab Shizune's ankles with his Chakra no Mesu activated and Naruto prayed he would be able to get there in time before Kabuto could follow up with another attack. Kabuto burst from underground as he let Shizune's ankles go. As she fell, Kabuto went to strike her neck, which would kill her.

Right before Kabuto was able to deal the finishing blow, he was kicked aside but managed to drag his hand down Shizune's back. Naruto landed and checked Shizune's injuries. She was in bad shape and would die if she didn't get help right away. Naruto looked over at Tsunade and knew that she would be of no help and as much as he would like to heal her, he couldn't. At least not while Kabuto was sure to interrupt any attempt to help. Naruto stopped for a seceond to think of a plan.

**_"That's it," _**Kyuubi said from inside Naruto as he learned of Naruto's plan, "**_I officially declare that all of your plans kamikaze at best and suicidal all other times." _**

****

_"I really appreciate the vote of confidence in my plan, Kyuubi," _Naruto mentally retorted as he put his plan into action.

Kabuto was already standing up and looking smug once again by the time Naruto was ready to put his plan into action. Naruto threw two kunai, both with an explosive note attached, at Kabuto. Kabuto caught both of the kunai and, just like Tsunade had done, as soon he noticed the kunai he threw them into the air. Kabuto then look up to see Naruto charging him with a kunai once again. Kabuto found it odd that he was able to get a hit so easily till 'Naruto' turned into a puff of smoke.

Kabuto heard the ground breaking behind and to see Naruto with another kunai moving to kill him.

"Using my own tactics against me? I'm afraid you'll have to do better than that, Naruto," Kabuto chided as he easily Naruto's hand that held the kunai, effectively stopping the attack.

"I already have," Naruto said.

Just then something once again came up behind Kabuto. Kabuto turned to see another Naruto holding a swirling ball of chakra in his right hand. Whatever that ball was Kabuto knew that he had to avoid it but as he moved to get out of the way the Naruto with the kunai grabbed him, blocking his escape. Naruto shoved the ball into Kabuto's stomach with a cry of 'Rasengan'. Kabuto held his ground for a few moments before being thrown back by the attack as it tore through the ground.

Kabuto finally stopped; leaving a huge dent in the boulder he ran into and then stood there.

"What? How were you able to survive that," Naruto asked shocked that someone could survive a direct hit from the Rasengan.

"Orochimaru keeps me around because I'm able to accelerate the rate at which I heal. Right before that attack hit I pushed a large portion of my chakra to my stomach and began to heal as soon as the damage started," Kabuto stated right before he fell down.

Naruto ignored the Kabuto's look of shock that apparently his healing was unable to keep up with the damage in favor of helping Shizune. As soon as he moved, Naruto knew something was wrong. He knew that Kabuto had managed to hit him with the Chakra no Mesu in his chest but apparently the attack went through his Reiki Rei more than he thought it could. Naruto coughed and noticed that a small amount of blood came up with it.

Pushing through the pain and Kyuubi's yelling for him to stop Naruto ran to Shizune. She was in worst shape but without Kabuto to worry about he should be able to help. Naruto once again did the hand seals for the Zen'yu no jutsu_ (complete healing technique)_ to save a friends life.

"Stop," Tsunade said as she watched Naruto try to heal her. "If you keep going in your condition then you could end up dead. Your life is not something to be gambling with."

"If I don't gamble with my life then who will? If I don't stand to protect those I care for with my life then who will? I put other people's lives on the line by being selfish and not willingly do whatever I can to protect those that need it, even if it does cost me my life. Because only those willing to gamble with their lives choose to become shinobi," Naruto scolded Tsunade as he continued to try and heal Shizune.

Tsunade was sent into a mild state of shock at Naruto's words. They reminded her of the words that her dead loved ones had said. Orochimaru meanwhile had stopped his fight with Jiraiya to watch Naruto's fight with Kabuto. He was shocked when Naruto actually managed to beat his right hand man. His eyes narrowed with the realization that if Naruto was allowed to live he would cause major problems in his plans in the future.

Orochimaru took off towards Naruto at breakneck speeds. Jiraiya immediately gave chase to stop Orochimaru but Orochimaru flung his ever-stretchable tongue out and caught one of Jiraiya's legs. He then slammed Jiraiya into several boulders as he kept running. He then released his hold on Jiraiya and brought the Kusanagi out of his mouth intending to stab Naruto in the heart.

Naruto sighed, he had finally managed to stabilize Shizune but doing so had left him exhausted. Just as he was about to collapse onto his back he heard Jiraiya give a shout of pain. Naruto looked up to see Orochimaru charging straight for him.

Tsunade sat in silent wonder of the fact that Naruto had managed to heal Shizune. She knew that Shizune would require additional treatment later but for the moment she was fine. Naruto words had been playing through her head like a broken record the whole time as well. They caused her to look back and remember the people she had once loved and her own life and at the moment she couldn't have been more disappointed with herself.

Tsunade also heard Jiraiya's cry of pain and saw Orochimaru's charge towards Naruto. It was at that moment that she made up her mind and decided to gamble with her life as well.

Orochimaru smiled with sick glee at what he was about to do. However, his smile faded when he saw Tsunade rushing in to protect the blonde brat. But then his smile returned as he would just kill Tsunade and then the brat so everything was good in his book.

CLANG!

The sound of metal hitting metal surprised all three of the sannin. Naruto was holding a sword that looked identical to the Kusanagi that was made entirely of white chakra. The abrupt hit to his sword caused Orochimaru to miss Tsunade completely. As he went by he felt the white blade give him a shallow cut in his abdomen.

Jiraiya himself was probably the most shocked. He knew that Naruto's blood line did something more than just negate the Byakugan and Sharingan but he had no idea that it could make a solid sword out of nothing.

Tsunade had no clue what was going on. One second she moving in front of Orochimaru's blade and then the next she feels like someone is giving her a hug. She opened her eyes and found blonde hair obstructing her view. Then the hair moved, allowing her to see Orochimaru standing next to her. While shocked, years of ninja training and experience kicked in. Tsunade spun delivering a super powered back fist to Orochimaru.

Orochimaru sailed through the air and landed painfully next to Kabuto. Kabuto did not like what was happening and neither did Orochimaru, if his snarl was any indication. Tsunade had apparently gotten over her fear of blood and Jiraiya was also making his way towards them.

Seeing this Kabuto decided to make a suggestion, "Orochimaru-sama, we need to summon Manda."

Shortly after that there were three cries of Kuchiyose no jutsu. After three giant puffs of smoke, Manda, the demon snake, Gamabunta, the toad boss, and Katsuyu, the slug queen, stood in the field with their respective summoner's on their heads.

FIN

**REVIEW or Smiley, Grinm, Jason, Freddy and Anko will force you to watch twenty-four hours of Lee and Gai- sensei's Training video, _You and your Youthfulness_. (I pity the fool.)**


	12. Chapter 12

**Chapter 12: More About the Painful Reunion

* * *

**

Naruto looked at the scene before him with a slight since of awe. He was about to witness all three of the sannin fight with their respective summons. Granted, he could summon a dragon but with fighting Kabuto and healing Shizune doing so would be very bad for his health. He listened as the summons addressed the ones who had summoned them. He couldn't believe that Orochimaru actually had to give human sacrifices to his summon. But then Naruto remembered that the snake was an actual demon and it made sense.

Naruto continued to watch in awe as the summons battled each other. It was one thing to fight on a summon during a battle and something else entirely to watch a battle of that size and magnitude from the sidelines.

Naruto saw that the battle was not going in favor of Jiraiya and Tsunade. It was two on one but slugs were truly more of a defensive summon than an offensive one. While the toads were offensive, they had more power than speed and speed was the main thing that the snakes excelled at.

_"Kyuubi, what would happen if I tried to summon a dragon right now," _Naruto asked as he watched Orochimaru start winning the fight.

_**"I don't know. The wound that Kabuto gave you isn't anywhere near healed yet. Right now the best that could happen would be that you passed out," **_Kyuubi responded not liking where the conversation was going.

Naruto was debating his options when Shizune began to awaken.

"What's going on," Shizune asked as she tried to get her world to stop spinning.

"Shizune, do you think you can hang on to me if I summon to help Tsunade and Jiraiya out," Naruto asked.

"I could, but I don't see how summoning another toad is going to help because he won't be strong enough to fight in this battle," Shizune replied as she saw what was happening.

"Good. I'm most likely going to lose consciousness after I summon so I need you to tell them that the snake is the bad guy," Naruto stated.

Naruto didn't give Shizune a chance to responded before he cried out Kuchiyose jutsu. Shizune had to quickly grab Naruto as she felt herself being lifted into the air.

**"So, what do you want me to do, Naruto-sama," **a deep voice asked.

All three of the sannin stopped their fight when they heard someone else using the Kuchiyose jutsu. They watched in awe as the size of the cloud of smoke. All three of the sannin knew that the summon would be very powerful. The only question was, was it friend or foe? Jiraiya and Tsunade released a breath when they heard the summon addressing Naruto. Orochimaru, on the other hand, was really starting to hate the blonde. However, all three of their jaws hit the ground when the smoke cleared to reveal a giant dragon.

"Um…Naruto told me to tell you that the snake is the bad guy," Shizune stated nervously.

The dragon took in a huge breath of air through it's nose. In doing so, it was able to tell that Naruto was knocked out and that him and the woman on it's head were both severely injured and that he would have to be careful not to aggravate their injuries.

**"Alright, if that's what he's says then let's barbeque us some snake. I've heard it tastes just like chicken," **The dragon replied with what the sannin could only guess as a smile.

As the dragon said this, he reached up and grabbed both Naruto and Shizune. Shizune was startled by this action but when they were placed on the ground she understood that as long as they were on top of his head then he couldn't fight very well. Once Naruto and Shizune were on the ground the dragon shot off like a rocket at Manda. Manda dodged the dragon's strike and hastily put as much distance as it could between the two of them.

**"Orochimaru, you worthless human. I refuse to fight with theses odds and you better have at least five hundred sacrifices the next time you summon me or I will eat you then and there,"** Manda hissed out right before he disappeared in a puff of smoke.

* * *

Scene change no jutsu 

Naruto was really starting hate waking up in a unfamiliar bed. It was one thing when he would wake up in the middle of his training field and it was another to have been moved to a different location while you're sleeping.

"So, how did Bahamut like the snake meat," Naruto asked as he sat up.

"You shouldn't be up yet," Tsunade announced as she ran to his bedside along with Shizune and Jiraiya.

"You worry too much, Obaa-chan," Naruto said wave Tsunade off.

"What did you call me, Brat," Tsunade asked getting angry at Naruto's nickname for her.

"Obaa-chan, you are old after all and before you hit me remember that I'm still injured," Naruto stated as Tsunade was about to pound him into powder. "Besides look at the bright side, I could have chosen something much more along the lines of what Ero-sennin likes to call you when your not around."

"Oh, and what does the pervert call me when I'm not around," Tsunade asked raising an eyebrow.

"Ano, Anko-neechan would kill me if I said them aloud," Naruto said sheepishly.

Then, before anyone could move, Jiraiya was faced down on the floor with a bump growing on his head.

"Who is this Anko of yours any way," Tsunade asked trying to play dumb.

"You know, your other nickname really does suit you, Tsunade-obaachan, you really suck at lying. I know you and Ero-sennin were listening when I told Shizune-neechan about my life," Naruto stated flatly.

Tsunade could only sputter in embarrassment at being caught evesdropping.

"Anyway," Tsunade said changing the subject. "We'll head back to Konaha tomorrow since your awake. Speaking of which, how are you awake so soon?"

"Give me a break. You mean to tell me you forgot about old fuzzball," Naruto deadpanned.

"Oh," was the only thing Tsunade could say in response.

* * *

Scene change no jutsu 

It had been three days since Naruto and company had headed for Konaha and nothing had happened. Although, you would have to be crazy to attack two of the sannin at the same. They had just gotten into town for the day and everyone had decided to relax. Jiraiya said something about research before making a hasty exit. Naruto did not want to be Jiraiya when they got back together for dinner like they had planned.

Naruto, Shizune and Tsunade decided to that since it was just past noon to go get some lunch before wandering around the town shopping and generally wasting time until dinner. The group had decided on Dango for lunch, something that Naruto had grown to enjoy. Naruto especially enjoyed lunch since in Konaha he could only go to Ichiraku's without being glared at by some employee or having the establishment out right refuse him service to begin with.

"I can't believe that pervert ran off to go peep like that," Tsunade ranted.

"When you get back to Konaha you could always make a law severely punishing peepers like him. I mean, it wouldn't be too hard as Hokage," Naruto absentmindedly as he continued to eat his Dango. "I mean after all, there has to be some reward to do all of that paperwork."

Tsunade paled when Naruto mentioned the amount of paper work she would have to do as Hokage.

"Frell," Tsunade muttered under her breath. "I would give anything so I didn't have sit and do paperwork all day."

Shizune gently laid a hand on her mentors shoulders in an attempt to comfort Tsunade. Naruto, on the other hand, got a gleam in his eye that usually spelled trouble for someone and a lot of trouble at that.

"Do you really mean that you would give anything so you didn't have do paperwork all day like Oji-san," Naruto asked.

Tsunade snorted in response to Naruto's question.

"Like a brat like you would know anything about paperwork," Tsunade said.

"I you really don't want to know then," Naruto said with a shrug. "I was even willing to say that if it didn't work you wouldn't have to do what I asked, oh well."

"If you put it that way," Tsunade said not seeing how she could lose with terms like those. "But before I agree to anything you have to tell what it is that you want."

"Fair enough. I was wanting you to train a few of my friends in Konaha," Naruto replied.

Tsunade thought it over in her mind. On one hand she wouldn't have to spend all day doing paperwork but have to spend time training a couple of brats severely cutting into her free time. On the other, she would spend all day doing paperwork and not have any free time to begin with. That's when she noticed Shizune sitting besides her and her eyes took on the same gleam as Naruto's.

_"Perfect, I can just pawn the brats onto Shizune and not have to worry about them at all," _Tsunade thought as she simultaneously congratulated herself for thinking of doing that.

"Deal," Tsunade said a little too eagerly for Shizune's tastes.

"Good," Naruto said nodding his head once. "All you have to do is keep a Kage Bunshin or two around and help with the paperwork. Since everything they learn will get transferred to you when they dispel you still know everything that was there and you get your work done at least twice as fast. I mean it shouldn't be that big of a strain on your chakra."

Tsunade openly gaped at Naruto's logic. It was perfect. It was true that it wouldn't be that hard just to keep a few clones around doing paperwork. Most wouldn't think to do that since most don't have the chakra to keep clones going during training or combat for very long. But if they just sat at a desk all day then trying to keep the clones going wouldn't be that hard. Granted you had to have at least sannin level chakra reserves but that wasn't an issue because she did.

"Okay Naruto why don't you tell me about who I'll be training," Tsunade asked with a small smile.

"Well, I would like to talk to them before I tell," Naruto said sheepishly.

"That would probably be a good idea. Now, why don't we go shopping," Tsunade announced.

With that, the group paid their bill and left the restaurant to go shopping. Shopping was almost a quite affair, Well, as quite as it can be with to females. Naruto made sure to seal away Gama-chan into a scroll with a little money in his pocket after the shopping began. He trusted Shizune and Tsunade not to steal his money but he had seen how some women get when shopping. Luckily for him no such thing had happened. He had actually managed to find a book titled '101 Ways to Kill a Pervert' for Anko, which Tsunade bought as well, and a book on medicine for Hinata.

It was about time for he group to head back to where they were supposed to meet Jiraiya for dinner when realized an odd fact. He had not been glared at once the entire day. It was…nice. For once he was able to forget about Kyuubi and just enjoy the day with those that were fast becoming close to him. No glares, muttered curses and best of all actually paying the same price for something as everyone else.

Naruto's group waited for another twenty minutes for Jiraiya before Tsunade had had enough, "I'll kill that pervert when he gets here," Tsunade growled out.

"Now, now, Tsunade, there are far worse things than death. Like being banned from peeping at the hot springs in Konaha," Naruto said with a smirk.

Tsunade smirked in return as she heard Naruto's form of punishment.

"I may have to make you one of my advisers brat with the way you think," Tsunade stated.

"Nah, I'll just take your job. But I guess we should start looking for Ero-sannin at the hot springs then," Naruto asked.

"Yeah, knowing that pervert he's probably lost track of time peeping," Tsunade said with a sigh.

The decided they could cover more ground if they split up. There were not many hot springs in the village thankfully. All of them were on the same side of town except for one. the group of three decided that once they were done looking they would meet up at that hot spring whether or not they had found Jiraiya.

Naruto had made quick work of the hot springs he was suppose to check with the help of the Kage Bunshin no jutsu. He made he way to the hot spring on the other side of town. He was almost there when he heard a very girly high pitched scream that could only mean that Jiraiya ha indeed been caught peeping again.

Naruto went into the male side of the hot spring seeing as Jiraiya somehow always managed to end up on that side after the beatings and sure enough Naruto heard about five different women were beating the old pervert from behind the door to the men's side of the hot springs. Naruto had made sure to close his eyes before he opened the door and called out right after he got on the other side of the door.

"Excuse me," Naruto asked gently as to not upset the already angry women. "But by chance are you beating an old white haired man with hitiate bearing a strange symbol on his forehead?"

All of the women instantly locked on to Naruto ready to beat him to a bloody pulp. They all relaxed when they saw that he was facing the door and being a gentlemen.

"What's this pervert to you," one of the girls called out.

"He's supposed to be my sensei. But don't worry, I'm not a pervert like him. If I was my sister would literally castrate me the moment she found out. So, please continue to beat the author of the Icha Icha Paradise serous for as long as you want and I'll take care him once your done," Naruto said hoping to not get a beating for being the perverts student.

Naruto heard the women whispering to themselves for a moment before he heard on of the call out, "We're done now. too bad the pervert fainted."

"Really? Do you know why," Naruto asked still facing the door.

"I don't know. He took one look at me and almost shouted 'you' with a shocked look on his face before passing out," the person replied. "Anyway, you can turn around know all of the other women left."

Naruto turned around and he looked at his sensei. He looked fairly beaten up but he had a look of surprise etched on his face. Curious, Naruto looked at the women to see if he would know why Jiraiya would have such a reaction.

"You," Naruto gasped out when he look at the women and then promptly past out from shock.

* * *

Scene change no jutsu 

Shizune had just walked into the hot springs they were suppose to meet at when she a gasp. She made her way towards the noise to see Jiraiya on the ground next to the back of some women that was facing away from her and Naruto slumped down on the near the men's entrance.

"What's going on," Shizune asked trying to make sense of the scene before her.

The women turned around at the sound of a familiar voice to come face to face with Shizune.

Shizune instantly gasped at the women before she too muttered you and then fainted.

* * *

Scene change no jutsu 

Tsunade was now thoroughly annoyed. She was supposed to half drunk sitting in a restaurant right now. But nooo, the lazy pervert just had to lose track of time peeping at women. Oh, how she was looking forward to beating him to a bloody pulp, healing him, beating him to a bloody pulp again and then taking away his two most precious things.

Tsunade entered the bath house hoping to find a bunch of women beating so she could join in on the fun but stopped and blinked at what she saw. Shizune, Jiraiya and Naruto were passed out at different locations in the hot springs.

"Tsunade, please don't faint on me," Tsunade heard a vaguely familiar voice call out.

Tsunade looked towards the source of the voice only to find an old friend walking towards her.

"Why would I pass out, Rin," Tsunade asked raising an eyebrow.

"Because Jiraiya, Shizune and that Arashi look-alike did after they looked at me. Then they said you with a shocked expression on their face and passed out," Rin stated with a puzzled expression. "Do you any idea why they would do that?"

"No clue. I can understand Jiraiya and Shizune to a point but I have no idea why Naruto, the Arashi look –alike, would do anything like that. I don't even know why he would recognize you," Tsunade answered just as puzzled.

"So, What do you want to do with them," Rin asked.

"Well, if you want to know why they passed out then we'll have to take them to a hotel and wait till someone wakes up and tells us," Tsunade said as she went to pick up Naruto and Shizune.

Tsunade and Rin decided that they would just get more rooms at the same hotel that Rin was already staying at. So it only took about ten minutes to set all those who had fainted into a bed. Rin and Tsunade sat down to talk about what had happened with Orochimaru and Naruto. They also just talked about the things in general that had been going on in their lives since the last they met. It was, a surprisingly, twenty minutes before Shizune woke up.

"You feeling okay, Shizune," Tsunade asked as she got up and walked toward Shizune's bed.

"Oh," Shizune groaned as she sat up. "Yeah, I just thought that I saw…YOU," Shizune screamed as she pointed a finger toward Rin.

"Please don't faint again," Rin practically begged as she ran towards Shizune.

"I can't believe it. I just can't believe it," Shizune softly said with her face buried in her hands.

"Can't believe what, Shizune," Tsunade asked worried about her apprentices strange behavior.

"I-it's not my place to tell you," Shizune said still in shock.

"Shizune, I need you to tell me if you know you, Jiraiya and Naruto all fainted when you saw Rin," Tsunade nearly demanded in frustration.

"She's right, Tsunade. It's not her place to tell you what's going on. And before you ask, It's not my place either. Naruto is the only one that can tell you everything that's going on," a groggy Jiraiya stated.

Both Tsunade and Rin started to angry with the pervert till they saw how serious his face was. So, Tsunade and Rin resigned to the fact that they weren't going to get anything from anyone else but Naruto at the moment. Upon that realization the group settled into an awkward silence waiting for Naruto to wake up.

"What happened," Naruto asked as he tried to clear his blurry vision.

Naruto looked around the room till his eyes finally settled on Rin. He became stock still, his body radiating disbelief.

"Yes Naruto it's really her," Shizune stated while Jiraiya nodded in agreement.

Whatever was going on was big. Tsunade and Rin could tell that from Jiraiya's and Shizune's reaction and based off of Naruto's reaction it was bigger than they thought that it was initially.

"So, should I know you," Rin asked seeing as Naruto was staring at her like she was going to disappear.

"Yeah," Naruto said weakly as tears started to form in his eyes. "You're my…you're my…I can't Jiraiya do it. tell her everything," Naruto said before he hastily left the room as his tears began to fall.

Everyone was in shock. Jiraiya and Shizune to a lesser degree since they knew Naruto's relation to Rin but they still didn't expect that reaction. Tsunade herself was speechless. She had never seen Naruto act that emotional. Even when he told Shizune his life story he didn't get nearly that emotional. Tsunade curiosity was of the charts now. Rin was somehow either a hero to Naruto or related to her. The latter of which made since given Naruto's reaction.

Rin had arrived at the same conclusions Tsunade had but that idea made no since to her at all. As a war orphan she didn't have living relatives and her husband and son died the night of the Kyuubi attack.

"What? What does he want you to tell me, Jiraiya," Rin asked as she came out of her shock.

"He wants me to tell that you're his mother," Jiraiya said with a sad yet serious face.

"He can't be my son. I know he looks like Arashi but my son died in the Kyuubi attack," Rin said not wanting to believe the frog hermit.

"He is. He even has Arashi's bloodline according to Mitarashi Anko," Jiraiya said with the same face.

He made it a point to mention that Anko had confirmed who Naruto was. Rin and Anko were like sisters. If anyone would be able to confirm that Naruto did indeed have Arashi's bloodline it would be her.

Rin slowly processed the information Jiraiya was giving her. As much as she wanted to deny it, if Anko said that Naruto was in fact Arashi's son then there was no way that it was wrong.

Tsunade's mind went blank at hearing what Jiraiya said. Now she knew why it was neither Jiraiya's or Shizune's place to say it. But with Naruto's reaction, Jiraiya was the one that eventually ended up telling them. Tsunade gently leaned over and pulled Rin into a gentle embrace.

Rin slowly allowed herself to believe what Jiraiya was telling her. Rin leaned into Tsunade's embrace with tears of joy streaming down her face. As she started to believe that this was really happening, a terrible thought occurred to her. Why had finding his mother get such a strong reaction from Naruto? What had his life been like till now? Did he hate her for leaving him? A million other questions floated through her mind like lightning.

Jiraiya, as if reading her thoughts, said, "Rin, trust me say that he doesn't hate you. No one knew that he was your son and he understands your reasons for leaving Konaha after the Kyuubi attack."

"Do you know why he ran off like that," Rin asked as she let go of Tsunade and sat down in a chair.

Rin noticed that everyone else in the room grimaced at her question.

"Are you…sure you want to ear it," Rin was surprised that Tsunade asked that questions.

Rin nodded slowly not sure really why everyone was looking so somber at her request.

"Shizune could you please tell her since I'm not sure if I got all the details," Jiraiya asked.

"Alright," Shizune sighed. "Naruto's life in a word, Hell."

Rin gasped at that statement. She had suspected that he may not have led the best possible life, but to hear Shizune use language such as that meant that it to have been bad. It was an hour later that Rin had finally been told the main parts of Naruto's life and to say that Rin was furious would be like saying that sticking your finger into liquid nitrogen only slightly cools it, on other words a huge understatement.

"I'm going to go look for him," Rin said as she let her temper ebb away until it could be directed at those who deserved it.

"He's on the roof sense he wouldn't want to go very far in an unfamiliar town," Jiraiya said calmly.

* * *

Scene change no jutsu 

Naruto had left the room trying desperately to regain his control over his emotions. He had only cried once since his sixth birthday where he promised not to cry again and the one time he had cried was when Hinata had accepted him Kyuubi and all over three months ago. He didn't know how long he sat just that it was oddly calming to just sit and not think about anything.

Naruto tensed when he sensed someone heading towards him. He relaxed a little as he was that it was Rin, his mother he corrected himself. Rin didn't say anything. She just came and quietly sat down next to Naruto.

"So they told you everything," Naruto asked Rin after they had sat in silence for a few moments.

"Yeah, they did," Rin replied softly.

She was nervous beyond all get out. She didn't know how she was talk to her son after not being there for fourteen years.

Naruto seemed to sense her nervousness because he whispered, "I don't hate you."

Rin barely heard him but she heard him none the less. Those words had managed to relieve of some of her nervousness but not all.

"I'm going to going back to Konaha with you guy's," Rin stated looking at the moon.

"I figured you would but what will you do," Naruto asked turning to look at Rin.

"One of the first things I'm going to do is to put the council straight about you," Rin said as she to turned Naruto.

"How? Oji-san, the Sandaime, was barely able to keep them from killing me. How will you be able to set them straight," Naruto asked showing confusion and a small amount of hope the he wouldn't have to so much about his own village trying to kill him.

"How do you know the council wanted to kill you," Rin asked surprised Naruto knew that the council had tried that since Jiraiya had told her what Sarutobi went through involving the council and Naruto.

"Growing up the way I did I'm able to read almost anyone like an open book. I've seen most of those on the council growing up at least once or twice and it's not like they try to hide the fact that they hate my guts," Naruto replied calmly.

"Oh," Rin said softly. "I guess I shouldn't be surprised about that. But as for setting the council straight, as the widow of the last officially known Kazama I have very powerful position in the council. They only person that could give me any trouble would be the Hyuuga. But after I explain a few things to him then he will not be any problems at all. And even if he did want to try something with the others on the council them me along with two Hokages would be able to stop them since the Uchiha clan doesn't have a member on the council."

Naruto simply nodded at the explanation. After that, an almost pleasant silence descended upon the duo.

"Come on," Rin started breaking the silence. "It's late and we're going to be heading out early tomorrow for Konaha.

* * *

Scene change no jutsu 

It took Naruto's group few more days to get back to Konaha. They all had grown closely together during that time. Rin in particular had made an effort to get to know her son and Naruto was just as eager to get to know his mother. Jiraiya, Tsunade and Shizune were happy to see mother and son reunited and getting along. The arrival at Konaha brought something to the forefront everyone's that they wished not to reminded of. Konaha's hatred of Naruto.

Rin had opted to keep her identity hidden by wearing a cloak with it's hood up till she revealed herself to the council. Even though her identity was not known, not even the presence of two of the sannin deterred the gate guards from glaring at Naruto. Tsunade and Jiraiya quickly rectified this problem by not so subtly threatening to kill them if they ever found out that they glared at Naruto again or if they mentioned this incident to anyone else. Needless to say that the two guards effectively wet themselves at those words.

Tsunade, Shizune, Rin and Jiraiya's walk through the village wasn't a very pleasant experience either. They all could see the amount of glares that were directed towards Naruto. What made it worse was when they looked at anyone else in the group that glare instantly turned into awe and respect. People were even giving Rin looks of awe and respect and they didn't even know who she was only that she was in the company of the last two loyal sannin.

Although, Tsunade and even Jiraiya's loyalties were starting to be questions by themselves. Jiraiya had never walked through the village with Naruto and he had wondered why Naruto seemed against the idea of doing so.

The group split up when they got to the hospital. Tsunade and Shizune went into the hospital to see what they could do for the Sandaime, Sasuke and Kakashi. Although neither really didn't want to help Kakashi after what he did to Naruto. Jiraiya went to do whatever he did, namely go peeping. And Rin and Naruto went to the Kazama estate.

* * *

Scene change no jutsu 

Anko was almost giddy with excitement. Naruto had sent her and Hinata a note via dragon summon about how they had found Tsunade and were on their way back. Granted she was busy most of the time with work but being a part of the torture and interrogation unit did have it's advantages.

Hinata herself was glad that Naruto would be getting back. She had been worried, along with Anko, about what the council might try to do to Naruto without a Hokage in place to try to stop them.

Anko and Hinata were in the kitchen getting ready to make themselves dinner when they heard the front door being opened. They both ran to the front door to welcome him.

"Welcome back," Anko said in her usual cheerful manner as she saw Naruto and a cloaked figure. "Who's the guy in the cloak," Anko asked pointing to the cloaked figure.

Hinata was standing next to Anko and was wondering the exact same thing.

"I am not a guy Anko," the cloaked figure said lowering the hood of the cloak to reveal Rin.

"You," Anko and Hinata said in unison as their eyes went wide right before they fainted.

"Why does everyone keep doing that," Rin said slightly annoyed.

* * *

**_FIN _**

Okay. The last couple of chapters have finally set up the pairing. I should have announced this before but the pairings will be het. sorry for any confusion. Well, not really.


	13. Chapter 13

**Chapter 13: Rin No Youki VS…

* * *

**

Sarutobi groaned softly as he began to awaken. He tried to sit up but someone gently pushed him back down onto the bed.

"You're going to need to take it easy for awhile, Sarutobi-sensei," a gentle female voice spoke.

Sarutobi's eyes shot open when he heard the person address him as sensei. There was only one female that would call him that.

"Tsunade," the Sandaime tried to say but came out more as a croak than actually words.

"Yeah it's me, Sensei, and try not to do too much right now. you've been a come for nearly a month and whatever you did has ended your career as a shinobi," Tsunade replied.

The Sandaime nodded slowly as he heeded her words. He then starting trying to remember what he had done that would end his shinobi career. Things slowly slid back into place for the aged Hokage. Watching the chunnin exam finals, the sudden explosion that signaled the start of the invasion of Konaha, the fight with Orochimaru, him summoning the Shinigami. Sarutobi's eyes went wide once again as he remembered that detail but then he remembered what the Shinigami had told him after Orochimaru fled.

Tsunade continued to heal her sensei who sat in quite contemplation and Shizune stood by ready to do whatever she needed to. Tsunade also helped Sarutobi's vocal chords heal from their disuse.

"You should be able to speak normally now," Tsunade said when she finished healing the vocal chords.

"What's happened while I've been out," The old man asked concerned for his village.

"A lot," said a new voice from the door. The occupants of the room turned to find Jiraiya standing at the door.

"What do mean a lot," Sarutobi asked.

Jiraiya sat down and explained to those in the room what he had found out about what was going on with Konaha the last month and his trip to get Tsunade. Sarutobi's eyes darkened when he heard what had happened with Orochimaru. He was very surprised to hear that not only did Naruto somehow have the dragon contract but that they had also literally stumbled into Rin on the way back.

"Jiraiya, I need you to tell everyone that there will be a council meeting tomorrow morning. We need to know what they done in my absence and to also have the formally accept Tsunade as the Godaime Hokage. Let's pray that they keep their mouths shut about Naruto with Rin there," Sarutobi finished with a tired sigh.

"They won't know she's there, at least not at first. Rin already said she was going to keep her return secret until after she met with the council, perhaps longer," Jiraiya said.

Everyone shuddered at the thought of what an enraged Rin would do if the council made her mad.

**

* * *

** Scene change no jutsu 

"Why does everyone faint when they see me," Rin asked as she placed Anko on one of the couches in the Kazama estate living room.

"Lets see," Naruto said after he put Hinata on another couch. "No one has seen either hide nor tail of you for fourteen years and then you suddenly show up out of the blue."

"Alright I get it," Rin said sighing.

Rin still didn't know how she was suppose to approach Naruto. The night that they ran into each other was the only night that they had truly talked alone but even then it was awkward. She had managed to get herself to what would be an acquaintance level of friendship with Naruto, someone you know and will talk with from time to time but that was about it.

Rin had decided from what she herself had heard about Naruto's life and him living with Anko that it would be best to try for a sisterly role in his life for now. She really wanted to be the mother figure but he had been forced to grow up way to fast. This left Naruto with a level of maturity that was well beyond the level to need help from a parent. Don't get her wrong. She would love to be his mother but she also realized that it would probably never happen.

Naruto himself was unsure of how to address and deal with Rin. He knew that she was his mother in the biological since but that was about it. He was still a little uneasy around her just like he was with Anko at first. He eventually decided to do what he did with Anko. He would take one day at a time with her and wait to see what would happen.

But he was sure of to things, he would try to get to know to the best of his abilities and that he would protect her with his life.

Rin's actions and treatment of him so far earned that much.

"Hey Naruto," Anko said as she sat up. "I'm glad your back. I mean, I just had the craziest dream where you walked in followed by…"

"Me," Rin chirped.

"Yeah yo-," Anko started to say before she realized that she was actually talking to Rin.

"Yeah, Anko, it's really me and I'm here to say," Rin stated.

Before Rin could even blink Anko had moved from the couch and embraced in a hug with strength that Rin swore surpassed what Tsunade was capable of.

"I missed you so much," Anko said in an emotion ridden voice.

"I know. I missed you to," Rin replied gently.

Hinata awoke to the sight of Rin and Anko hugging. She slowly looked around the room and saw Naruto sitting not to far away from the hugging duo.

"N-Naruto," Hinata said quietly as she momentarily reverted back to her old shy self. "Is that really your mom?"

Naruto turned when he heard Hinata call his name. He could tell that she was praying that this was not all one big dream. He himself could hardly believe that this was reality and not a dream.

"Yeah, Hinata, it's really her," Naruto replied.

Hinata smiled at Naruto's words. He finally had something that he had wanted for as long as he could remember, family. True he did have her and Anko but to actually have your mother there was something totally different. Although, these thoughts made Hinata think of her own mother and how she died when she was little.

"Oh, you must be Hinata," Rin said seeing the girl after breaking her hug with Anko.

"Y-yes, It's nice to meet you Rin-sama," Hinata replied.

While normally Hinata would've been scolded for stuttering in front of someone so important Rin didn't even look like she had noticed it.

"Please, call me Rin. If you want you could even call kaasan if you want seeing as your already a part of this family," Rin said as she smiled down at the shy girl.

Hinata couldn't believe the woman in front of her had just told her that she may call her mother if she wanted. Naruto briefly panicked when Rin said that she was already a part of the family but then he calmed down thinking that Rin meant since Hinata was already living at the Kazama estate. In usual fashion Naruto's stomach decided to break the mood with a loud growl.

"Um, so what's for dinner," Naruto asked as he scratched the back of his head.

Everyone shared a good laugh at Naruto's expense, even Naruto himself.

"Hinata and I were just about to fix it. Come on, we can talk while we get it ready and eat," Anko said with a true smile on her face.

The rest of the evening was spent catching up with what's been going on in each others lives that others were not aware of. The only time they stopped before they went to bed was when Jiraiya came and told them about the council meeting in the morning. Anko, Hinata and Naruto went to bed thinking with everything that had happened recently they were finally done with all the surprises.

**

* * *

**

**Scene change no jutsu **

The council gathered with mixed emotions. Some of the council members were happy to finally be able to get the new Hokage confirmed so they wouldn't have to do the paperwork anymore. Others sat there happily thinking that they could get rid of the demon brat know that they had a Hokage. Still they were some that were rather indifferent to the whole situation and would wait to see the views of the new Hokage before they tried to do anything.

Every one on the council was present for the meeting except for a man named Danzou, leader of the Root Anbu division. After everyone had sat down the doors to the room opened up to reveal the Sandaime in a wheel chair, Jiraiya, Tsunade, Shizune, Hinata, and what appeared to be a female. It was hard to tell the last figures gender, or even identity, because they wore a cloak that hid their body and face completely.

Tsunade and everyone with her noticed that Hiashi didn't even give Hinata a second glance when she walked into the room and the first glance he gave her wasn't very kind either.

"Thank you all for making it here on such short notice," Sarutobi said being professional. "Since Tsunade will officially become the Godaime I will be taking up the role of representing the Sarutobi in the council. Now that I have said that let us begin."

"Before we begin, Sandaime-sama, who is that cloaked figure with you," Homura asked.

"Who it is none of this council's concern. All you need to know is that they have both mine and my two students complete trust," Sarutobi stated making very clear that the question was not to be asked again. "And don't even think about using any techniques, including bloodlines, to try and found out who they are."

"Of course, Sandaime-sama," Aburame Shibi said evenly. "I would like to officially extend the council's welcome to the new Hokage."

"Thank you," Tsunade said with a nod. "Now that that is over, what is the state of the village and the peace talks with Sand?"

"Sand found the murdered body of the Kazekage in the dessert," Homura started. "Apparently Orochimaru killed him and took his place before the chunnin exams. With this knowledge, they have already signed another alliance with us and have agreed to an arranged marriage to help solidify the treaty. Of course the girl their sending here will become a part of the leaf."

"Who are they sending and who will they be married to," Sarutobi asked.

"The former Kazekage's daughter, Temari, and that de…thing Uzamaki Naruto," Homura said.

Rin and her group caught Homura's near slip of the tongue in wanting to call Naruto a demon. Nor did they miss when he changed what he going to call Naruto when he saw Hinata in the room. The was one of the reasons that Rin insisted on bringing Hinata along this morning. It would make the council think twice about what they said about Naruto. Tsunade, Jiraiya and Sarutobi were currently mentally congratulating Rin on her stroke of genius for that thought.

"It was one of the only things that saved his life," another council member spoke under there breath thinking that they weren't going to be heard.

Unfortunately for them they were civilian and didn't know about the sharp senses that all seasoned shinobi possessed.

"What was that," Tsunade asked looking right at the man that said it.

the man froze when he realized that Tsunade had heard his comment.

"Nothing at all," the man sputtered out in an attempt to get himself out of the hole he dug for himself.

"Why would this marriage save his life? And for that matter what else saved his life and tell me more about him. I only briefly met him on my way to the hospital yesterday," Tsunade asked feigning ignorance.

"Because he's a menace that should have died the day he was born," another councilman with a backbone said. "The stupid representatives from Sand were quit insistent that that thing would be the only one they would consider for the arrangement. That and he disappeared right after the Sound/Sand evasion and we couldn't find him. Speaking of which we need to have him arrested as a missing-nin."

"That won't be necessary," Jiraiya said before anyone could act on that suggestion. "I took him with me to retrieve Tsunade and as my apprentice he is allowed full travel rights as long as I am with him.

A few of the members of the council became enraged at Jiraiya's proclamation. Having a sannin train the demon boy was outrageous. And the council began to voice this opinion.

"Enough," the cloaked figure shouted unleashing a wave of killing intent that nearly rivaled Kyuubi's. "I will not have you speak that way of the hero of this village. Have you forgotten that the last wish of the Yondaime was for him to be seen as a hero for what he bares?"

It was the first time that the cloaked figure had spoken and it confirmed many people assessments that the figure was indeed a women. There were a few though that could have sworn they knew that voice from some where else.

"That boy is not a hero," another council member nearly yelled. "He is nothing but a filthy demon that will kill us the moment it gets the chance!"

"Enough," the cloaked figure once again shouted. "Since you can't respect Naruto as a hero I will protect him myself. From this day forward Uzamaki Naruto is officially a part of my clan."

"You can't do that," A council member yelled.

"What can you do to stop me," The cloaked figure asked in an amused voice.

"The council can put it to a vote banning you from adopting him," the council member said sounding smug.

"Really? What gives this council the right to interfere in peoples personal affairs," the figure asked sounding curious.

"It has always had the right," the same man replied. "All in favor of stopping Uzamaki's adoption by this person?"

A few of the council members paled at what the civilian council member had just done. Most, however, smirked thinking of all the ways in which the could use this new found power. Though they were disappointed when barley half of the people raised their hands in favor of stopping the adoption and even those were civilian members of the council who didn't hold much power.

"All against," the cloaked figure asked.

The Nara's, Yamanaka's, Akimichi's hands almost immediately shot up. They remembered the way their children had acted after they had found out about what Naruto contained and the talk that went with it. They had originally tried to convince them that he was a menace but two statements managed to stop all of their arguments. Would a demon really tolerate the was Naruto had been treated ,even if retaliation meant death? And what if Kyuubi had been sealed into them instead?

The Aburame Shibi also raised his hand in a more dignified manner. He too had a talk with his son. And the question that caused him to stop and think, along with the rest of his clan, had been if Naruto is Kyuubi then are we kikai. It didn't take long for the logic loving clan to realize the meaning of Shino's words, the Aburame clan members and Naruto were the same. Naruto just happened to play host to something other than bugs.

Tsunade and Sarutobi also raised their hands at this time signaling that they wanted the adoption to go through. The rest of the council members wisely decided not to vote on the matter.

"It seems that the motion passes," the council member said with glee as he looked at all the raised hands.

"Not quite," the cloaked figure said as she raised her hand.

"You have no authority to vote in this matter," the council member said once again sounding smug.

"Really," the cloaked figure asked as she pulled her hood down.

Everyone that recognized Rin let out a gasp. She indeed had a right to vote on this issue and every other issue. She may have married into the Kazama clan but everything was left to her when her husband died, including the seat on the council.

"Even if you could vote you don't have enough power in the council to stop us," the man continued.

"You fail to realize, Councilmen, that this women is Kazama Rin. She wields more power than everyone except for the Uchiha, Hyuuga, Sarutobi and Hokage and even then the Hokage is the only one that truly has more power than her," Tsunade said with a smug expression of her own.

The council was left sputtering in shock at what they had just been told. They couldn't believe that the wife of the late Yondaime had returned to Konaha.

"Now that it's official," Rin started. "If anyone is caught attacking the new heir to the Kazama clan they shall be dealt with by me." Rin finished with a glare for added effect.

"The same goes for me as well," Sarutobi said glaring as well.

"Jiraiya and I have also agreed to deal with those that see fit not to treat Naruto, at the very least, human," Tsunade said cracking her knuckles for emphasis. "If that is all this meeting is hereby over."

"Thank you Tsunade-sama," Rin said with a maniac gleam in her eyes. "I need to take care of a few ignorant people. Oh, and Hiashi I need you to come over to the Kazama estates this evening at seven."

What happened next no one is entirely sure about. All that was confirmed was that roughly half of the council was admitted to the hospital begging someone named Mallet-sama to stop. When other members of the council, who weren't admitted to the hospital, were asked they merely said that Hell truly hath no fury like a mother scorned.

**

* * *

**

**Scene change no jutsu**

"I feel better now," Rin said as she sat down in the Hokage's office.

"Hopefully those old bats have learned their lesson," Jiraiya said.

"I doubt it but at least Naruto will be a Kazama even if we can't reveal his heritage right now," Tsunade said.

"Rin-san," Hinata said.

"I told already to call me kaasan," Rin cut in.

"Kaasan, why did you wish to speak to my father this evening," Hinata asked.

"Well, I realized during the council meeting that that conversation got a lot more complicated," Rin said with a sigh. "But as why I want to speak to the fool, you will have to wait until later to find out. Of course, everyone in the room right now is welcome to be there as well."

Everyone was thinking that whether Rin wanted them to be there or not they were going to be there. They noticed that Rin was very careful to avoid hitting Hiashi after the meeting. They had also noticed Hiashi's almost panicky expression after Rin had officially adopted Naruto and it appeared that this conversation was the answer to both of those questions.

"Come on, Hinata, let's get home. I have a son to get to know," Rin said happily.

Everyone dispersed to do what needed to be done before tonight's meeting. Sarutobi stayed in the office with Tsunade to get her settled in and pointers on how to deal with the towering stacks of paperwork. Sarutobi grumbled under his breathe about life being unfair when Tsunade told him that using Kage Bunshins would cut down on the amount of time. He was hoping to use that as blackmail later.

Shizune stayed to help Tsunade while Jiraiya went to do things that were illegal and highly dangerous to his health. Rin and Hinata went back to the Kazama estate to spend the rest of the day with those close to her. The four of them spent the rest of the day getting to know each other better or reacquainted with old friends. All in all life was good at the moment.

**

* * *

**

**Scene change no jutsu **

Hiashi resisted the urge to bang his head into a wall. He had had a hard enough time explaining to the Hyuuga council how Hinata was no longer apart of the clan. They weren't really mad that she was no longer a Hyuuga. It had more to do with the fact that wouldn't be able to put a caged bird seal on her. That, and make sure that she could never pass her blood line on.

Now he was going to have to explain that Uzamaki was now a part of the Kazama clan, if only in name.

"Why have you called us, Hiashi-san," a council member asked as Hiashi sat down in his chair at the table.

"I have called you here to inform you that Kazama Rin has returned to Konaha," Hiashi said pausing and waiting for the murmurs of the council to die down. "And to also inform you that she has officially adopted Uzamaki Naruto into the clan."

Just like Hiashi expected the council turned savage. They were outraged that the demon spawn was now a Kazama.

"Hiashi-san, we will not respect the deal we made with the Kazama as long as that thing is the heir," a council member said as him and the rest of the council settled down.

"We don't have much of a choice," Hiro, a lesser member of the council, stated. "Or have you forgotten the debt that we owe to the Kazama clan.

Hiro smirked slightly when the rest of the council fell silent. The Hyuuga did indeed owe the Kazama clan much. The Hyuuga were part of the reason that the only Kazama bearing the blood line was Naruto, not that they knew that.

"Hiashi-san, do you know were Hinata-san is living we must inform her of this at once," Hiro continued.

Hiro thought of Naruto as a boy with a heavy burden. He was also glad that Hinata had managed to get away from the Hyuuga clan. He was also aware of the crush that Hinata had on Naruto. Hiashi was sketchy at best as to the details of how this came about but he was glad none the less. There were a few others on the council that felt the same way as him but they didn't have a lot of power in the council so they remained quite.

"No, I was never informed of where she would be living nor did I care," Hiashi replied.

That statement caused Hiro to frown. He didn't know how Hiashi could be so cold towards his daughter especially when he spoiled her before his wife died. Thankfully, Hinata no longer had to deal with Hiashi's behavior and for that Hiro once again said a silent prayer of thanks.

"Then we need to ask Hinata's jounin sensei, Yuuhi Kurenai, where she lives," Hiro said.

"You will find that Kurenai will not give that information unless ordered. She is not very fond of the Hyuuga," Hiashi stated calmly.

"Then we will have to go to the Hokage," Hiro replied.

"This whole discussion is pointless," Another council member said, one that Hiro remembered hated Naruto. "Hinata no longer has any ties to this clan. We will be unable to force her to do anything."

"Technically," Hiashi said shocking everyone. "Hinata never really was a part of this clan to begin with. The deal with the Kazama's said that she was to join their clan and that deal came into effect when she was born."

The council members could not argue with that point. So, many of the members left muttering curses under their breath.

**

* * *

**

**Scene change no jutsu**

Hinata was nervous. Scratch that. Extremely nervous. For whatever reason Rin had told her that her and Naruto were going to be at the meeting with Hiashi. She didn't know why but Rin had made it very clear that there was going to be no way of getting out of that meeting. She figured that Naruto would have to be there since he was 'adopted' into the clan and was now the heir of the clan. Her own presence baffled her though but she had put this in the back of her mind so she could enjoy the day with what was fast becoming a family to her. Although, she didn't and probably could never think of Naruto as a brother, even if she could never marry him. Sometimes she wondered if she had stayed a part of the Hyuuga clan if she would ever be forced to marry someone because of an arranged marriage.

Naruto was also curious as to why he had to be at the meeting with Hiashi but, like Hinata, he figured it had to do with him now officially being the clan heir. He decided that it would be a good idea to know what the meeting would be about so he asked Rin. When Rin refused to tell him warning bells went off in Naruto's mind. Why would Rin refuse to tell him what the meeting was about. He'd be there and found out what it was about whether she told him or not.

This caused Naruto to become worried about what was going to happen. But like Hinata he pushed these thoughts to the back of his mind so he could enjoy the day with those he considered close.

The day went well. Naruto decided to invite Haku and Ino to join him, Hinata, Anko, and Rin for a picnic at a small lake on the Kazama estate grounds. Surprisingly, Ino and Haku didn't faint when they were introduced to Rin. They were told that Rin had adopted Naruto so going to the Kazama estate to meet with him wouldn't have to be done in secret.

Everyone enjoyed the picnic and the time that they spent with the others. It was almost dinner time before the group made it back to the estate. Rin invited Ino and Haku to stay for dinner as well. Ino declined saying she needed to get back to her home while Haku accepted being that Zabuza was out on a mission.

Rin sat down on the couch to talk with Hinata while Anko, Haku and Naruto made dinner.

"Hinata-chan," Rin called getting the girls attention. "I would like to tell Hiashi that you are living here."

"B-but," Hinata started stammering.

Hinata may have gotten a lot of confidence in the last two months but the thought of confronting her father still scared her.

"Don't worry. With the deal that Naruto has with him there is nothing he can do to you," Rin paused as she noticed Hinata blush at the mention of what Naruto did. "The reason for the meeting is to talk to him about you becoming a part of the Kazama clan."

Hinata's eyes widened when she heard that. Did Rin plan this all along? Is that why ever since they met that Rin had insisted she call her kaasan?

"Is that alright with you, Dear," Rin as the dazed girl.

Hinata slowly nodded still trying to process what she was just told. Rin gave a mischievous grin after Hinata left the room to help with dinner. She couldn't wait till she told Hinata and Naruto the reason why Hinata was going to become a part of the clan.

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**_FIN_**

There it is folks. The long awaited information is giving but there is still a lot more that needs to be revealed. Now review! Or I'll unleash a SS class Konaha genjutsu upon you. (You know the one)


	14. Chapter 14

**Chapter 14: The Mighty Show Their True Colors**

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"Hinata," Naruto said as he helped clean up dinner. "How serious are you about becoming a medic-nin?"

"Very, I've already started reading over some medical scrolls. Why," Hinata replied.

"Well, I've managed to find somebody to teach you medical jutsu and knowledge. They were actually quite impressed with your healing cream," Naruto answered.

"Really who is it," Hinata begged dying to know who was going to teach her.

"Her name's Tsunade," Naruto said nonchalantly.

It took a moment for Hinata to realize who Tsunade was before she tackled Naruto in a hug repeating thank you over and over. Naruto told Hinata that she was welcome while Rin and Anko tried to stifle their laughter. Hinata heard them laughing and looked up to see what the two were laughing at. It was then that she realized what position she and Naruto were in from the hug. She immediately stood up blushing so red that someone would wonder if she had been out in the sun for the past few days straight.

"Naruto," Rin said as she stopped laughing. "I need to talk to you for a minute in the living room."

"About what," Naruto asked as he and Rin sat down.

"The council informed today of some information about you," Rin paused wondering how Naruto was going to take this news.

"What is it," Naruto asked when he saw Rin hesitate.

"The new treaty with Sand includes you marrying former Kazekage's daughter, Sabaku no Temari," Rin said watching Naruto's reaction.

Out of all the reactions Rin thought Naruto might have she never expected for him to start laughing.

"Naruto, are you okay," Rin asked fearing for Naruto's sanity.

"Yeah, I'm fine," Naruto said as he stopped laughing. "I just find ironic the children of two former Kages will be married. Why did they pick me?"

"All the council said was that the Sand representatives insisted that it be you that married her," Rin said.

"Once everybody learns who Tousan is Sand is going to flip at their luck. Oh well, I wish I could have chosen but at least now I won't have to worry about rabid fan girls," Naruto said with a wishful smile.

"Naruto, are you sure your going to be okay," Rin asked confused.

"Yeah, like I said this just means that I'll have fewer headaches later. Excuse me I need to get ready for the meeting with Hiashi-teme," Naruto said before he left.

Rin let out a sigh of relief. Naruto had taken the news far better than Hinata had earlier that day.

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**Scene change no jutsu**

"Hello, Hiashi-san," Rin greeted formally. "I have to ask you to send your escorts home."

Hiashi thought that Rin's request was strange but obliged her none the less.

"Thank you. This was please," Rin said leading Hiashi into the house.

Rin brought Hiashi to formal meeting room in the house where Hinata, Naruto and everyone else were already waiting. Hinata and Naruto both stood and bowed when Rin and Hiashi entered the room. Hiashi returned the bow along with Rin but Rin, along with the other adults in the room saw the indifference and lack of feeling in Hiashi's bow to Hinata.

"Thank you for coming, Hiashi-san," Rin said after everyone sat down. "I'm sure you know why we are meeting for the most part but I have yet to inform our two guests. But before I tell them I would like to talk to you. The lack of concern and respect that you have for Hinata sickens me. Your late wife, Hitomi, would be appalled by the way you are treating her and you will start treating her with the respect she deserves or you will have more problems than you ever dreamed."

"And how would you do that," Hiashi asked.

"How quickly you forget what the council has the power to do, Hiashi-san," Rin said smirking.

Hiashi paled when he remembered the foolish councilmen that said that the council has the power to interfere with clan affairs.

"Now, Hinata, Naruto, what Hiashi-san is here to discuss is the arranged marriage between the heir of the Kazama clan and the heiress of the Hyuuga clan. In other words you two," Rin said flatly pointing at Naruto and Hinata.

Naruto's eyes widened. He couldn't believe what he was hearing. He was suppose to marry Hinata? Then what about his marriage to Temari?

Hinata's almost fainted as her eyes also widened with Naruto's but for different reasons. As the former heiress of such a prestigious clan, she knew that it was possible for a person to be arranged to marry two different people but only on accident or if all parties agreed to it. The only reason it would happen on accident was because arrangements like those were made with no way for either party to back out of.

Rin looked on at Naruto and Hinata and was ready to answer the question that she was sure was on Naruto's mind.

"What about my marriage to Temari," Naruto asked shocked and confused.

"You will marry both of them, Naruto. There's nothing that can be done about it," Rin answered. "Now, Hiashi-san, could you please explain to Hinata and Naruto why they have to get married."

"Why do they need to know that," Hiashi asked wishing to get the meeting over with.

"I'll tell you why once your done telling them," Rin said leaving no room for arguments.

Hiashi sighed under his breath in defeat before starting, "Shortly after Konaha was founded many Hyuuga became jealous of the power the Kazama clan had and how their blood limit made the Hyuuga powerless against them, even though the Kazamas only had ten members. It eventually got to the point that the jealous Hyuuga attacked the Kazama clan. The attack caught the Kazama clan off guard and killed all but the at the time current clan head's father, who was on a diplomatic mission, and a child that was spending the night at a friend's house."

Naruto's and Hinata's eyes widened once again at hearing this but remained quite to here the rest of Hiashi explanation.

"Afterwards, the re-instated Kazama clan head agreed to keep the attack quite and not seek any retribution from the Hyuuga clan in exchange for the Hyuuga's support in the future and for the Hyuuga heir to marry the Kazama clan heir to replace the heir the Hyuuga killed in the attack."

"As a result, the wars that were fought after that time killed the remaining Kazama left before they try and re-establish the clan. Kazama Arashi was the last member of the clan. He did have a son but he died in the Kyuubi attack. You may only be an adopted Kazama but you are still the heir of the Kazama clan. This is just the first generation since the deal was made that the heirs have been of the opposite gender so they could marry. Now, why do they need to know the reason for this arrangement?"

"Well, I figured that Hinata should know why she has to marry Naruto and that Naruto should know why he is the last member of his clan," Rin stated calmly and clearly.

If Hiashi was a cartoon character a question mark would of appeared over his head at Rin's statement and that question mark would slowly straightened itself until it was an exclamation point that signaled Hiashi understood what Rin was implying. But alas, Hiashi isn't a cartoon so he settled for letting out a very undignified yell at the top of his lungs and a shocked expression on his face.

"There is NO way that he is the son on the Yondaime," Hiashi practically yelled. "Arashi's child died when the hospital was hit in the Kyuubi attack!"

"You can't believe it? How could you not see the similarities between him and Arashi? The two of you were best friends," Rin responded trying to hold her own emotions in check.

"It's just a side effect of the seal," Hiashi said trying to deny what was before him.

"No it's not. Naruto, show him your blood line," Rin stated.

Naruto did as he was told and activated the first step of his blood line. Hiashi activated his Byakugan ad looked at Naruto. If he was shocked before, now Hiashi would be brain dead. His mind didn't want to believe it but the proof of Naruto's lineage was right in front of him.

"All this time he was alive? Everything I've done. How could I ever make it up," Hiashi said barely above a whisper but in the silent room everyone heard it.

"Yes, you now realize the extent of what you and just about everyone in this village has done," Rin stated not looking happy. "That is all I wished to discuss with you. Goodnight and remember that the identity of Naruto's father is an S-class secret and revealing it will be punished accordingly."

Hiashi nodded and left for home. The whole way he was in a state of shock but in this shock he realized one important thing, just how shallow Konaha had become. He came to this conclusion when he vowed to treat his best friend's son better and realized that nothing about Naruto had changed. Not one measly thing had changed about Naruto since he first arrived at the Kazama estate. The only thing that had truly changed was what he knew about Naruto's lineage and that most if not all of the village would treat Naruto better simply because of who his father was.

This thought shook Hiashi to his very core. He remembered when some the older members of the Hyuuga clan talked about how everyone was welcome in Konaha when it first started. As long as they hadn't done anything like murder and were willing to devote themselves to the welfare of the village.

This practice was one of the things that made Konaha so strong before. With Hiashi's realization the, the future of Konaha looked decidedly bleak.

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**Scene change no jutsu**

It had been three days since Hiashi told everyone why there was only one Kazama left and everyone that was at the meeting got over their shock at hearing the news. Hinata was ecstatic when Hiashi finally left. When she had heard that Naruto was to be married to the Suna kunoichi, Temari she had lost all hope. Hinata had nearly fainted when she finally realized what she had done in her moment of bliss.

Naruto, on the other hand, was still trying to wrap his mind around the fact that he had to marry to women. Jiraiya had tried to give him a hard time about it saying how lucky he was and other perverted things. But a quick glare and punch combo from Tsunade and Rin, who hit him almost as hard as Tsunade, had convinced him never to do that again.

Naruto knew that he barely knew anything about Temari and her about him. Still, he was going to try his best to get things to work out between the two of them. Hinata was also a concern. Naruto really wasn't sure how he felt about Hinata, but he chalked that up to the fact that he had barely felt what it meant to be loved by more than one person for only a handful of months. Basically, love was a foreign concept to him.

While things were going well with Naruto and those close to him, there were members of both the Hyuuga council and Konaha council that were far from pleased. Naruto's adoption into the Kazama clan and the return of Rin had effectively forever put Naruto out of their reach, at least legally. Members of both council had gotten together and discussed how they could get rid of the 'Demon Spawn' and what they came up with was both simplistic and very viable in their eyes.

All they had to do was let Uchiha Sasuke overhear how powerful Naruto had become, where he liked to train and when he would be there, by himself of course, and Sasuke's own ego would cause him to grow infuriated at the blonde and go challenge him to a fight. Naruto would be able to put up enough of a fight that Sasuke would completely lose control and kill the blonde. After all, the mighty Uchiha did defeat the Suna jinchuriki, Gaara, or so they believed.

Those who knew that Naruto was the one to actually beat Gaara tried to tell people this but most, if not all, people just simply brushed them aside and didn't believe them. Why should they when Naruto's supposed sensei, the famed Hatake Kakashi, stated that it was impossible for Naruto to actually beat Gaara? These statements about Sasuke beating Gaara had yet to reach Tsunade, Jiraiya, Sarutobi or Rin so they continued to be thought of as true.

If Sasuke could beat someone like Gaara then he would have no trouble dealing with Naruto. It was true that Sasuke should be killed if he killed Naruto but all of the parties involved believed that with their power and the public outcry against killing the last Uchiha they could make it so he got off with a slap on the wrist. The best part about it all was that even if it was traced back to them as the ones who let Sasuke know where Naruto trained nobody could do anything about it. Naruto's training habits weren't classified after all. How would they know that Sasuke would fly off the handle and kill Naruto?

Those were the events that led to Sasuke running through the forest. He was looking for Naruto, even if he had only heard that a powerful shinobi that would be willing to fight him was practicing where he was headed. He got to the clearing and was amazed at the destruction in it. Sasuke saw a figure in the middle of the clearing practicing taijutsu. Rock Lee was the first name thought that came to the young Uchiha's mind as he stared at the speed and strength of the one training along with a sense of triumph at finding a worthy foe. This triumph quickly turned to anger when he got a good look at the one he was watching and realized it was Naruto.

Naruto himself had sensed someone watching him. He knew that it wasn't Jiraiya because if he was there to watch then Naruto wouldn't be able to sense him at all nor was it Anko, Hinata or Rin. Those three always came out into the open when they would watch him train. Erring on the side of caution Naruto slowed down and didn't do more than basics until he knew who was watching him. In slowing down and focusing on his surroundings, Naruto also noticed another presence that was hidden better than the first. Naruto berated himself for getting so caught up in his training that he didn't notice it earlier. But once again it wasn't someone that Naruto knew.

Naruto didn't realize it but it was Sakura's presence he first sensed. She was being the loyal fangirl and was following Sasuke around. Like Sasuke, she too was amazed at the level of proficiency the unknown trainee was exhibiting but unlike Sasuke her awe turned into confusion upon realizing that it was Naruto. It was then that she remembered what Ino told her during the chunnin exam finales. She really hadn't given to much thought to Ino's words but with what she was seeing now, she started to realize exactly how little about Naruto she actually knew.

Sakura had always thought that Naruto was a no talent loser that would never amount to anything. But she knew that those thoughts were wrong because of what was before her eyes. It took years of heavy training to get to the speed Naruto was moving at and the grace that he was moving with took months to get to. She was about to think about why she liked Sasuke when Sasuke stepped out of hiding towards Naruto and her thoughts immediately went back into 'fangirl mode'.

"Who gave you that power, Dobe. You don't deserve that kind of power. Tell me who trained you so I can get the power that I need," Sasuke demanded as he made his way toward Naruto.

"Yeah, tell Sasuke who taught you, Naruto. They had to have been a miracle worker to get someone like you that strong and Sasuke-kun deserves that training more than you," Sakura chimed-in in her banshee voice, A.K.A. her fan girl voice, as she too made her way toward Naruto.

Naruto calmly turned to face the pair that intruded on his training session. It really didn't bother him that they tried to spy on his training. No, not at all. What really bothered him was that Sasuke and Sakura demanded that he be told who trained him and that he wasn't worthy enough to receive that training.

Naruto looked Sasuke right in the eye as he replied in a calm voice, "No."

"Why not," Sasuke practically screamed back.

"Because they have said they wouldn't," Naruto stated calmly. "You, Sasuke, are a stuck up arrogant teme that thinks that everything should be handed to you because of your family name. If that's how the rest of your family acted I'm glad that they were killed."

Sakura was surprised when Sasuke lunged at Naruto. Naruto on the other hand wasn't surprised. He knew that Sasuke would go ballistic when he told him what he thought of the arrogance that he had heard a lot of the Uchiha exhibited.

Sasuke charged and threw a haymaker at Naruto in a blind rage. Naruto calmly dodged the attack. Sasuke was not deterred in the least and kept attacking in a blind rage. Sakura was frozen from the shock of seeing Sasuke attack Naruto so suddenly. Her mind couldn't comprehend why Sasuke would do that. Naruto himself kept dodging or blocking Sasuke's attacks. This only enraged Sasuke more since Naruto still had a clam look on his face.

Naruto was trying to think of a way to put an end to the fight has he dodged another attack. H could knock Sasuke out but with only the loyal fan girl as a witness it was likely that he would get in a lot of trouble for hurting the 'noble' Uchiha and he really didn't want to take off his weights as that would just further enrage the Uchiha. Kyuubi was aware of Naruto's problem and offered him an idea before Naruto came up with a suicidal idea on his own.

Naruto agreed and jumped back dodging another of Sasuke's attacks creating distance between himself and Sasuke. He then created a small army of clones to distract Sasuke while he tried to slip away. Sasuke saw the clones appear and jumped in the air above the army. He quickly did the hand seals and launched a giant fireball at the clones. Many of the clones were unable to dodge the fire and those that did were destroyed in the blast that the fireball caused upon impact except one that was standing next to Naruto.

When the smoke cleared Sasuke saw Naruto standing there unharmed. Sasuke finally lost all rational thought and charged a chidori, intending to kill Naruto. Naruto cursed when he saw Sasuke charge the chidori. He remembered when Sasuke used that attack against Gaara and was not eager to see what it would do to him. Naruto quickly ran through the list of jutsu he knew for something that could counter the chidori.

Naruto was only able to come up with one technique that would be able to counter if not overpower Sasuke's technique, the Rasengan. Naruto quickly told his clone to help him make the Rasengan so he could keep the knowledge that he didn't need a clone to make it away from Sasuke. Sasuke charged as soon as he landed and Naruto did the same.

Sakura snapped out of her daze when she saw Naruto and Sasuke charged each other with such deadly techniques. She yelled at them to stop as she ran toward them in an effort to stop them. Naruto heard Sakura's yell and turned slightly to see her running at them. Naruto realized that if she didn't stop and his and Sasuke's attacks met the backlash from their techniques would kill or at the very least gravely injure her. Naruto realized that he was committed to his attack and wouldn't be able to stop without Sasuke killing him.

The techniques were about to meet when Naruto decided he would redirect his Rasengan so it wouldn't hit anything and try to deflect Sasuke's Chidori when a blur shot out of the bushes and redirected both his and Sasuke's attack. Naruto's attack was forced into the side of a tree while Sasuke's was forced into the ground. It took a few minutes before everything settled enough for people to start thinking clearly. Naruto looked back to see who stepped in when his attack finished.

Naruto turned and saw the creator that Sasuke's chidori made next to a slowly standing Sasuke and a scowling Kakashi looking directly at him.

"I thought you had more restraint then that, Naruto," Kakashi said in a scolding tone. "I forbid you from ever using that attack again."

"Really," Naruto asked raising an eyebrow. "And exactly how much of the fight did you see?"

"I saw enough to know that you aren't any where near ready for an attack like that powerful," Kakashi replied.

"And Sasuke is," Naruto said barely restraining his temper at Kakashi's attitude toward him.

"He needs that kind of power. You don't! Now you will respect my authority and never use that attack again till I say so and I doubt that will ever happen given your actions and attitude today," Kakashi said, clearly getting angry at Naruto's backtalk.

"Like I care what you say. You don't even have any authority over me," Naruto said dusting himself off.

"That's it, Naruto. You and me are going to go talk to the Hokage about your attitude," Kakashi said finally losing his temper.

It is quite unfortunate for Kakashi hat he was completely unaware of Naruto's relationship with both of the Hokages. He was also unaware of what had happened since he had fought Itachi except that Tsunade was the new Hokage.

"That won't be necessary," A female voice sounded.

Everyone turned toward the voice to see Tsunade and a hooded figure at the other side of the clearing. Kakashi instantly recognized Tsunade along with Sakura and Naruto but only Naruto knew that the hooded figure was his mother, Rin. Sasuke just gave a grunt that clearly indicated that he thought he was better than that whoever these newcomers were.

"Watch it, Uchiha. I'm the Hokage. You will show me the proper respect," Tsunade snapped at Sasuke.

"I'm glad you're here, Hokage-sama. I need to talk to you about Naruto's attitude and get him to respect my order," Kakashi said in a serious tone ignoring Sasuke's disrespect.

"What order is that," Tsunade asked.

"He ordered me never to use the Rasengan again," Naruto said chiming in clearly not worried about what might happen.

"And why did you give him that order," Tsunade said as she narrowed her eyes at Kakashi as did Rin, though no one could see it.

"Because he isn't ready for that kind of power," Kakashi replied.

"But he thinks Sasuke is," Naruto once again chimed in.

"That's enough out of you," Kakashi snapped cutting Naruto's statement off.

"Kakashi, you be quiet! Kakashi thinks Sasuke is what, Naruto," Tsunade asked.

"He thinks Sasuke is ready to handle the power of the Chidori," Naruto said in an even voice.

"Is it true, Kakashi, that you think that Naruto isn't ready for such a powerful technique but Sasuke is," Tsunade asked barely restraining her temper.

"Yes, this spar should be more than enough evidence to prove my point. Naruto almost killed both Sasuke and Sakura," Kakashi said blissfully unaware of the grave he was digging for himself.

"And what exactly did you see in the fight that would make you think Naruto wasn't ready for that kind of power," Tsunade asked calmly while on the inside she was a hairs breath away from killing the copy nin.

"Naruto charging at Sasuke with such a powerful technique in a spar is all that I need to see to know that Naruto isn't ready to handle that kind of power," Kakashi said.

"Tell me, Kakashi, did you see Sasuke make a chidori and proceed to charge Naruto with it _BEFORE _Naruto even made the Rasengan," Tsunade asked in a deceptively calm voice.

Kakashi started to panic as he shook his head no and asked, "How do you know that Sasuke did that?"

"Because me and my guest here saw the whole thing along with Sarutobi-sensei on the Hokage's crystal ball," Tsunade snapped back. "I bet you missed that Naruto was moving his attack away from Sasuke's to prevent Sakura getting hurt before you did anything."

Kakashi's eyes bugged out as he broke into a cold sweat. Two Hokages and another person had witnessed the whole thing and apparently not happy with what they saw.

"I'm disappointed in you, Kakashi," Jiraiya said as he walked up to everyone along with the Sandaime. "Arashi would be disappointed with you as well, showing this level of favoritism. When Sarutobi-sensei first told me about it I didn't want to believe it but now there is no doubt that he was right. Arashi trained you better than this."

"Sakura, Sasuke, Naruto, I want the three of you to go home now. The rest of us are going to stay and have a little chat with Kakashi here," Sarutobi stated.

Sasuke couldn't have cared less about what was going on when he left. He was just enraged that somehow Naruto had acquired a lot of power in such a short time. He took comfort in the fact that his attack was still stronger than Naruto's. This, however, changed when he go passed the tree than Naruto had knocked over. The amount of destruction was massive. The only reason he hadn't seen it before was because Naruto's attack had knocked a tree over blocking his view till he moved around as he left.

Sakura left with Ino's words from the chunnin exams once again ringing in her ears. She realized that Ino was right and she really didn't know Naruto at all. She also began to truly question why she liked Sasuke as well. She had thought about it off and on recently but Sasuke's total disregard for her safety during the fight shocked her. She also still couldn't believe that Sasuke would attack Naruto like that.

Naruto left hoping that someone would tell him the story of what Kakashi was about to get later. Better yet, if they had pictures of what happened to Kakashi.

"Now where were we," Sarutobi asked turning to Kakashi. "That's right! You were just about to get your long overdue punishment for the way you have been treating Naruto."

"What do you mean 'long overdue punishment'? I thought we were just going to be talked to about what happened in Naruto's and Sasuke's spar," Kakashi asked thoroughly confused.

"No, Kakashi, if I had my way you would have been punished for abandoning Naruto to train Sasuke before the chunnin exams," Sarutobi said with a glare. "The only thing that stopped me was the village council but they are no longer a problem. Although in a way I should thank you. If it weren't for your actions we may have never found out whom Naruto's parents are."

"You found out whom Naruto's parents are," Kakashi said both shocked, curious and scared.

Kakashi was shocked because nobody ever thought that anyone would find out who Naruto's parents were curious because he wanted to know who Naruto's parents were and lastly he was scared of what Naruto's parents might do to him if they ever got a hold of him. Yes, he realized what had done to Naruto wasn't right but since it was for the last of his dead teammates family he figured that it was alright. Besides, it's not like anyone would really cared what happened to the dead last.

No Kakashi didn't hate Naruto because of Kyuubi. He just thought that Sasuke was the only one with real potential. Sakura had some, yes, but nobody could compare with Sasuke's potential. Naruto, in his opinion, was just a dead last that spouted about being Hokage but didn't have anywhere near the potential or the attitude to attain such a rank.

"Yes, we know who Naruto's parents are but I don't know if you have the right to such knowledge" Rin removing her hood.

This sent Kakashi into a state of shock. He couldn't believe that his old teammate and the wife of his late sensei was back.

"R-Rin," Kakashi stuttered out. "Hold on, why shouldn't I be told who Naruto's parents are. I'm his sensei have every right to know who his parents are," Kakashi said quickly getting over his shock.

"Sensei? You haven't been his sensei in four months," Rin nearly shouted back. "Whatever that doesn't matter right know. If you want to know who Naruto's parents are then just tell me why you never watched over him like I asked. And don't try to make any excuses. You told me that you would watch over him no matter who's child he was," Rin finished with a glare as she waited for him to reply.

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Sorry for the late update but real life got in the way of writing it. Don't worry this fic will never be abandoned or put on hiatus. It just might take me awhile to update. The next update will be posted when it's done but I'm going to continue to be busy. I don't know when it will be ready but expect to take about as long as this one. Unfortunately that the reality. I will try to get it out sooner but I can't make any guarantees.


	15. Chapter 15

Sorry for the long wait but things happened that I won't bore you with. My next chapter shouldn't take nearly as and if all goes well I'll have this done around Christmas. Enjoy!

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Kakashi was in trouble and he knew. He had promised Rin to look after Naruto before she left. Rin would have done so herself but with her own recent losses she couldn't stand to stay. Kakashi couldn't blame her. He felt terrible after his sensei died but Rin had lost both her husband and son at the same time.

True Kakashi himself was saddened by the death of his sensei's son but he wasn't even aware that Rin was pregnant when he heard Rin's reasons for leaving. He had promised Rin to watch over Naruto because while she believed a lot more people would accept Naruto as a hero than those who didn't, she wanted to make sure that Naruto had someone he could look towards for protection.

It was actually Rin's belief about the people in Konaha that caused her to leave before it was announced what Naruto was to the village.

Now there wasn't anything that Kakashi could say in defense of his actions. He simply didn't care when it was all said and done. He could've said that he got busy doing his ANBU duties but that wouldn't cover why he never trained Naruto while he was on team 7.

"I… uh…," Kakashi stammered.

"Have absolutely no reason, excuse or lie as to why you never fulfilled your promise do you," Rin questioned interrupting Kakashi.

Kakashi actually had the decency to look ashamed at Rin's accusation. He also began to fear for his health when Anko stepped through the bushes.

"Arashi and Obito would be appalled by your actions," Rin said clearly disgusted with Kakashi. "Which, by the way, almost caused the destruction of the village. Isn't that right Anko?"

Kakashi paled at this accusation but he was still able to voice his confusion Rin about it.

"How did my actions almost destroy the village?"

Rin and Anko gave him an 'are you really that stupid look' before Anko replied, "Naruto has grown up almost his entire life completely alone and hiding himself so people don't try to kill him more than they already are. Let's not forget the sheer amount of hate he has to put up with for something that he didn't have any control over to begin with. Then, you at least treat him like a person. But as soon as he starts to believe that maybe you're not like most of the people in this frelling place you drop him faster than your mask when you eat." Anko paused for a moment to make sure she didn't kill Kakashi before she was through chewing him out.

"A person can only take so much hate and abuse, Kakashi. Your actions with training the Uchiha before the chuunin exams personally and getting Sakura someone to train her without so much as trying to find someone to train Naruto made it perfectly clear to him what you thought of him, someone that wasn't worth the time or effort to worry about. Speaking of which, were you worried at all about Naruto's performance in the chuunin exams?"

"Why should I have worried about him? He had the number one rookie of his year on his team. As long as he didn't do anything to get in Sasuke's way then they would have been fine," Kakashi replied trying to save some of his hide.

"Number one rookie? Sasuke is like the number one spoiled brat," Rin spat back. "He made it to the third round in the exam by copying someone else's move. I don't care how much he changed the end. He managed to do little more than annoy his next opponent, Gaara."

"Hey, because of the training I gave Sasuke before the chuunin exam he managed to beat Gaara during the Sand/Sound invasion, saving a lot of lives by the way. I don't see how that you can say he just annoyed him," Kakashi said now trying to defend his student and his choice to train Sasuke one on one without teaching Naruto.

"No, Kakashi, Naruto is the one that beat Gaara not Sasuke," Rin said in a cold voice.

"B-but Naruto is nowhere near strong enough to do that," Kakashi stammered out.

"Why don't I summon Gamabunta and see who he says beat Gaara," Jiraiya said getting his own piece of Kakashi.

"Why would Gamabunta know who beat Gaara," Kakashi asked.

"Maybe because he was there," Jiraiya said in a calm voice.

"Who summoned him? I know for a fact that you were on the other side of the village fighting and no one has signed the toad contract since Arashi-sensei," Kakashi questioned Jiraiya.

"That just shows how much you know about Naruto and his abilities," Jiraiya said with a snort.

"What do you mean," Kakashi asked.

"Naruto signed the toad contract before the third round of the chuunin exams and summoned Gamabunta on his first try," Jiraiya replied.

Kakashi's eyes threatened to fall out of his eye sockets and if it weren't for his mask his chin would be somewhere below sea level. No one had ever summoned a summon boss on the first try in history.

"I see you're shocked," Tsunade said sarcastically. "If you would have bothered to earn Naruto's trust then you would have known that Naruto has been able to use Kyuubi's chakra whenever he wanted to since the end of your mission in Wave."

"Arashi would be greatly saddened by your actions, Kakashi. He never favored one student over the other," Jiraiya said with disgust in his voice.

"You promised to watch over Naruto and didn't and then when he was placed on your team, you ignored him entirely for the Uchiha," Rin started. "Did you ever stop to think why Naruto was the dead last of the academy? Did you even bother looking into his life beyond what the Hokage made you? The Hokage at least attempted to know what was going on with Naruto and he's the busiest person in the entire frelling village! You just saw the rookie of the year, a smart girl with some potential and a dead-weight. "

Kakashi once again was unable to respond to the accusations before him. It was all true. He had never once stopped to think about what Naruto's life was like or about a reason that Naruto's grades in school were so bad.

"Why don't I enlighten you to the truth about Naruto that was in front of everyone's face," Rin continued her rant. "Naruto has always been stronger, faster, and has more stamina and chakra than anyone else in the academy's entire history. He would have been considered a prodigy among prodigies if the teachers weren't so blinded by their prejudice that they spent all their time and energy doing everything in their power to make sure he died on his first mission."

"I talked to Anko here right after I started training him two months ago," Jiraiya said continuing where Rin left off. "She told me what he shared with her about his life and I have to say that it wasn't pretty. He started training himself just after his sixth birthday because he was tired of getting beaten. He did actually try to do well in the academy but after he always received the worst grades no matter what happened he stopped trying all together. Before you say anything, yes Iruka tried and actually made an attempt to teach him but it was already too late. That and Naruto had already learned and used just about everything that has to do with survival and, unfortunately, torture."

"Wh-what," Kakashi asked shocked as he took a quick glance at Anko and saw her nodding to what Jiraiya was saying.. "Why would Naruto know just about everything there is to know about those subjects, especially torture?"

It was Tsunade that stepped foreword and answered this question.

"Wouldn't you know a lot about survival if there were only three people in the village that would even be the least bit saddened and not celebrate if you were killed in the most horrible way? Most shops refused him service and those that did give him service greatly overcharged him. He learned how to survive because it was either that or die. As for the torture, you can't expect someone to go through an attack of some kind at least once a week and not learn how to ignore pain and not give the attackers the satisfaction of whatever they were after do you?"

"How could he have been beaten almost weekly? I know ANBU were assigned to watch over him when he was younger. I worked some of those missions myself," Kakashi nearly shouted.

"I know, Kakashi, I'm the one who ordered those missions," Sarutobi said once again getting in the 'conversation'. "And you only actually watched over him once. It wasn't until recently that I looked at who preformed those missions. There were quite a few that preformed the mission once and then refused to do it again. I had always assumed that they didn't want to guard him again. After recent events I went back and questioned people as to why they didn't want to watch him again. Their response was very troubling. They told me that other ANBU threatened them saying that if they actually did their job and truly protected Naruto that death during a mission wasn't very uncommon. Needless to say the threatened ANBU got the message to turn the other way or die and they were in the same position if they reported the threat."

Kakashi could only stand dumbfounded about Naruto's life. He couldn't believe what the village had done to Naruto and he was starting to realize that he had treated Naruto the same way.

"I see your shocked, Kakashi," Tsunade stated. "Too bad what Naruto told Anko was just the tip of the iceberg,."

"You, Kakashi, are trash," Rin said in a harsh whisper. "You don't deserve to know who Naruto's parents are. Between you and the village…anyway, maybe now that he is now my adopted son at least a few people will start to see Naruto for who he really is. Until then only those who Naruto trusts will have the privilege of knowing who Naruto's parents are."

With that said Rin along with Anko and Jiraiya turned on their heels and left. Kakashi let out a small sigh as he thought the "talk" was over but he missed that Tsunade and Sarutobi were still there until Tsunade spoke.

"You better be glad that you're needed for missions right now or I would put you in the hospital for the next month. Until then consider yourself lucky but as soon as I can I'm going to make you pay for what you've done."

Tsunade then turned and left herself while Sarutobi gave Kakashi some parting words of his own.

"You've fallen far, Kakashi. You say that you honor those that have fallen. You even go as far to imitate a dead teammate but then you go and pull a stunt like this. I see that the fourth was right in saying that you were his worst student."

Sarutobi then left Kakashi to stand there and wallow in his own guilt or whatever he was going to do. Sarutobi didn't really care at that point what Kakashi did.

**

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**Scene change no jutsu**

The council was annoyed at the fact that they had to wait for Tsunade and Sarutobi before they could begin the discussion about the recent Oto/Suna invasion and who would be made Chuunin from the recent exams but that annoyance quickly vanished when Tsunade and Sarutobi finally arrived. No one was sure what had not only managed to put Tsunade in a bad mood but Sarutobi as well and nobody dared asked. To make matters worst was that apparently Rin and Jiraiya were also in a bad mood. Everyone figured that Tsunade and Sarutobi were mad for the same reason since they stormed out of the Hokage Tower shortly before the meeting was supposed to start.

One thing was made clear fairly quickly in the meeting though, don't mess with those four. Danzo had the privilege of finding this out for the group. He had proposed a rather aggressive policy against Oto. Tsunade, Sarutobi, Jiraiya and Rin shot him down so fast that Danzo had yet to speak for the rest of the Oto war discussion. It had been a long meeting so far and thankfully for the rest of the council those four had seemed to have calmed down after a short break before discussing the Chuunin promotions.

"Alright," Tsunade started addressing the nin that acted as judges for the third exam. "Name the applicant and your reason for promotion or why they should remain gennin."

"Aburame Shino's fight for the exams didn't happen due to the invasion," an examiner said as he and the rest of the council looked through a folder on the exam results. "Nara Shikamaru displayed an excellent strategy to fight a superior opponent and had he had more chakra or a team he would have won his fight. He also gets the examiners approval for becoming a Chuunin. Uchiha Sasuke displayed a wide variety of skills and the examiners approval for chuunin. Hyuuga Neji while powerful greatly underestimated his opponent along with his belief that in fate cost him the match and the examiners do not approve of him being made a chuunin at this time."

"I agree that Nara Shikamaru should be made chuunin," Sarutobi started. "But I do not believe that Sasuke Uchiha is worthy of the chuunin rank."

"That's outrageous," one of the examiners shouted. "Uchiha Sasuke is more than qualified for chuunin. Him beating back Suna's jinchuriki is more than proof enough that he should be made Chuunin."

"It was Uzamaki Naruto was the one who beat Gaara of the Desert, not the Uchiha," Nara Shikaku said surprising many.

"How do know this? That…_kid_...wasn't anywhere near that fight," Another council member asked.

"He was there," The Nara said in his usual bored tone. "Uchiha Sasuke managed to bring himself back to the village after the fight. My son along with his sensei found Naruto near the battle sight and brought him to a secure location till things settled down from the invasion. Even if you say that was just a coincidence then I'm fairly sure that the massive toad my son saw, which from size alone has to Gamabunta, would probably be more than happy to tell us what happened. And even if you say it was the Uchiha to summon him, could you please tell me why Jiraiya would let him sign the contract."

"Because that's what the Uchiha should have," Another council member started. "As the last Uchiha the most powerful summon we have should be his."

Those that bothered to look at Jiraiya while the council member spoke saw that he didn't know whether to laugh or shout in rage.

"Like I would let a brat like that sign the toad contract to begin with and Gamabunta would never listen to someone like that no matter what the 'situation' was," Jiraiya answered in a voice that sounded like what others saw a moment ago. "Knowing Gamabunta he would probably just say something to make the Uchiha brat mad before he left. But Shikaku is right about Gamabunta being summoned for that fight and who actually beat Gaara of the dessert."

"While we're on the topic of Uzamaki Naruto, how come he wasn't mentioned at all when discussing who should be promoted to chuunin," Rin asked.

"I, too, would like to know why he was not mentioned," Sarutobi said.

Apparently the examiners weren't paying attention to the previous argument. Everyone knew that Naruto was under the protection of the Kazama clan but his adoption into it had yet to trickle its way through the grape vine, although, that could be due to the council's reluctance to tell anyone.

"That _thing _shouldn't be a shinobi, let alone a chuunin," one of the examiners snarled back.

It might seem odd that a shinobi would be that direct in front of the Hokage but usually unless you did something to Naruto himself the worst punishment you got was doing a single D ranked mission by yourself. Unfortunately for him, Rin's return took away the council's protection.

"That thing, as you call him, is a hero and my son," Rin snapped back. "It would do you well to watch how you speak about the heir of the Kazama clan."

The examiners as a whole were petrified upon hearing this information. The sway he would hold over the village in the future would be immense.

"Regardless of what this council thinks about Naruto's performance in the chuunin exams, I'm awarding him the rank of chuunin for defeating superior opponents," Tsunade said in an effort to get this meeting over with.

She had some discipline to dish out.

"Who might these opponents be, Hokage-sama," another council member asked.

"Orochimaru's right hand man and myself," Tsunade replied.

Jiraiya was sure that if anyone dropped a feather that you would be able to hear it hit the ground. Well, at least until a council member decided to break the silence loudly.

"Why isn't that monster in jail for attacking you then?!"

"One, Tsunade started. "Because I was the one to challenge him to a fight. Two, because he is the very reason I'm here at all and three, is because if he wanted to he could've taken my head off."

After that statement, everyone wisely decided to let the matter of Naruto being made chuunin drop. In the end, only Naruto and Shikamaru were to be promoted to chuunin at that time.

**

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**Scene change no jutsu**

To say that Sasuke was angry would be like saying that he only slightly disliked his older brother, an understatement of unbelievable proportions. He couldn't believe the power of the jutsu that Naruto had used against him a week ago. What's more he saw him create it with the sharingan active and still couldn't copy it. He should be the one to have that kind of power. Not some pathetic loser that would never use it. He was an Uchiha and was therefore entitled to that kind of power.

Sasuke began to believe more and more that Konaha couldn't give him the power he needed to kill his brother. Sasuke pounded his fist into the training post as he again thought about his brother. He didn't care who he got the power from or what he had to do to get it. It was at this moment that his curse mark pulsed and he remembered the power he felt while using it against Gaara. The only problem that he had is that he had no idea where Orochimaru was or how to contact him.

As Sasuke was thinking this, a kunai came flying at him from a bush. He caught fairly easily and then spoke, "Who's there?"

Four figures emerged from near the bush, one female and three males, all wearing Sound forehead protectors.

"I see you're not a total frell-up," the female commented. "We are the Sound Four, Orochimaru's elite body guards, and we were sent by Orochimaru to bring you to him."

"Good, I'm ready to leave this pathetic village," Sasuke stated.

The four sound ninja nodded in response and then leapt into the trees going away from the village with Sasuke following them.

**

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**Scene change no jutsu**

This was just dandy in Naruto's opinion. Things had actually been going great ever since the incident with Sasuke. Now though, He along with Chouji, Shikamaru, Kiba and Neji were on a mission to retrieve Sasuke who had run away from the village. The village council would no doubt try to say that he was kidnapped by the four sound ninja Sakura saw but from what Shikamaru told them about the incident there was now doubt in anyone's mind, at least those not blinded by Uchiha name, that Sasuke had willingly turned his back on Konaha.

And why did Naruto have to chase after the stick-up baka? Simply because all the other high ranking ninja were either out on missions or needed for the security of the village. Apparently word had gotten out about the defeat of the Ichibi. Naturally, with just about the whole village saying Sasuke was the one to defeat the Bijuu, clients from all over the place had heard of this feat and that Konaha managed to repel two invading villages at once with minimal losses. Even though the Ichibi wasn't at full power the fact that a gennin was able to stand against it for even a short time but also had managed to force it back into its container was unheard of. As such, clients and mission request had skyrocketed and Konaha could barely keep up with all of it.

Naruto shook himself out of his thoughts as his team had managed to catch up with Sasuke and from what Neji told them Sasuke was apparently in a barrel for some strange reason. His team had tried to ambush the four ninja who introduced themselves as the Sound Four but ended up being captured instead.

Naruto was glad that he had the foresight to leave a few Kage Bunshin behind in case anything went wrong. Naruto's clones quickly attacked Jirobo to make him drop the Earth Prison that held the real Naruto and his team captured. From then on one by one the members of Naruto's team had stayed behind to fight a member of the Sound Four so that the mission could be completed. It was down to Naruto and Shikamaru now as Naruto glanced back at Kiba and his opponent but he wasn't scared. He knew that they would make it through alright.

What truly confused Naruto were the markings that were spreading on Kiba's opponent as he and Shikamaru left.

_"What are those markings? There something off about them," _Naruto thought to himself.

**_"Those were the markings of a parasitic like enemy that was thought to have been taken care of long ago," _**Kyuubi told Naruto.

_"What enemy was that," _Naruto practically shouted back.

**_"An enemy with the ability to posses others, control them and increase the power of whomever they possessed. The downside to this is that the body they are possessing eventually kills itself trying to fight them and only those that are really strong can switch bodies," _**Kyuubi replied.

_"So is there any way to fight them," _Naruto asked.

**_"Yes, another drawback that they have is all but the most powerful of their kind has to have a seal on the neck of the body their possessing. The seal slows the deterioration of the body down and acts like an anchor for them. If you can get a suppression seal on top of their seal then you knock them and the one possessed out. After that the process for removing them is rather simple,"_** Kyuubi finished supplying.

_"So is that why Sasuke has been acting so strange," _Naruto asked.

**_"I doubt it. From what I saw of that barrel that Sasuke is in its designed to increase the power of the parasite so they can actually fully control someone. Up until now the most it could probably do was whisper in his head,"_** Kyuubi said thinking he knew where Naruto was going with this.

_"Good, now I won't have to be worried about hurting Sasuke since he did this of his own free will," _Naruto finished.

"Naruto!"

"What? Oh, sorry, Shikamaru I was just talking to Kyuubi about our enemies," Naruto replied getting some stuff out of his pockets.

"Troublesome," Shikamaru said with a sigh. "What did he say?"

"He told me the people we're fighting are possessed by akin to a parasite and I'm currently making a seal that should knock them out if you if you can get it on their neck." Naruto replied as he was writing.

Naruto worked for a few more minutes before he handed Shikamaru three seal tags.

"Add a little chakra to the seal to activate it. I have plenty more so don't worry and do not hesitate to kill her if you can't get a seal on her. Death would be a release compared to what's happening to her right now. I just wish we would've found this out sooner," Naruto said with regret.

"Don't worry about that, Naruto, you yourself said that death would be a release for these guys," Shikamaru said trying to get Naruto to see thing logically.

Naruto just nodded in reply as the pair continued to jump through the trees after the last Sound Four member and Sasuke.

**

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**Scene change no jutsu**

Naruto sighed as he continued to chase the now free Sasuke. It had been just a few minutes since Naruto left the semi-recovered Lee to fight the bone user, Kimimaro. He only hoped that Shikamaru would be alright fighting the Sound girl. Oh, he knew that Shikamaru would win but at what cost. The best case Scenario had Shikamaru getting the tag on the girl and the worst case was Shikamaru killing the girl and dying in the process.

Still, as much as he wanted to Naruto couldn't afford to be distracted. Kyuubi had told Naruto that while the thing controlling Sasuke was still young it was very powerful in its power enhancing abilities meaning that Sasuke would be a whole lot tougher to beat. Sure, Naruto was able to draw on Kyuubi's chakra but the toll it would take on his body would be extreme. While he had used Kyuubi's chakra before it was never actually in his chakra system for very long because it went to immediately fuel a summoning jutsu. Naruto was sure that if he had to fight Sasuke he would probably have to use Kyuubi's chakra for an extended time.

Normally Naruto wouldn't have use Kyuubi's chakra like that but the extended journey and the brief fights with the Sound nins had left him severely depleted of chakra.

Naruto abruptly stopped at the edge of a cliff. The cliff had what appeared to be two shinobi standing on either side with a giant waterfall between the two. Naruto almost immediately recognized the place as the Valley of the End. Looking across Naruto was able to see Sasuke standing there looking at him.

"It's abut time you got here, Dobe. I was getting tired of waiting for you to show up," Sasuke stated looking at Naruto with the same 'I'm an Uchiha therefore you should bow to me look' that he usually wore.

"Like I care," said back. "All I want to know you body snatching freak is whether Sasuke agrees with what you're doing?"

"I see Kyuubi has informed you about us and yes he's in full agreement with what I'm doing. In fact, I'm going to let him have complete control for this fight. Oh, and please call on Kyuubi's chakra. I took the liberty of telling Sasuke all about Kyuubi and he wants to leave no doubt that no matter what you do you will always lose to him," the parasite said.

"Let's go, Dobe," said what Naruto presumed was truly Sasuke.

Sasuke then preformed hand seals while inhaling air. He then launched a massive fireball at Naruto. Naruto wasted no time in dodging the attack and made his way down the cliff face toward Sasuke. Sasuke also charged at Naruto after unleashing his jutsu. The two met on top of the water in a taijutsu battle.

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	16. Chapter 16

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Rin couldn't believe what she heard. Not only had the Uchiha run away but Konoha could only send five gennin after him. She knew that there would be a lot of parties if her son died on this mission. That was the reason that she following Anko and Anko's snake summon.

She had been in Suna with Anko finalizing the treaty with Konaha when a message arrived for assistance on the mission. Unfortunately, Suna wasn't in any better shape than Konoha regarding manpower. They too sent gennin to help. Perhaps forced would be a better way to describe why gennin had been sent to help Naruto and his team.

The message from Konoha had interrupted a meeting finalizing the details of the arranged marriage between Naruto and Temari. Naturally, Temari and her siblings were at the meeting and upon hearing that Naruto was in trouble Gaara promptly stood up and said that he was going along. Kankuro and Temari said that they weren't going to left behind and the were going with them.

Rin and Anko had said that they were going along to help as well. Rin had heard that Gaara had mellowed out a lot after Naruto defeated him but people were still too scared of him to get in his way. So with Gaara's quick approval of her and Anko's help it didn't take long for the group of five to leave Suna.

When they got close to the border of sound Anko's snake said that there were three different battles taking place, one ahead of them, one to the right further from the border and one to the left closer to the border. Kankuro volunteered to go by himself to the one on the right. Temari volunteered to go by herself to the one ahead of them but Anko insisted the she accompany her do to her importance in the Suna/Konoha treaty. That left Rin and Gaara to take the one closer to the border. They stopped briefly to allow Anko to summon two more snakes to guide everyone to the battle sights.

Rin had been sick with worry ever since she had heard about the mission in Suna but when the snake guiding her and Gaara stopped and told them that another battle had started even closer to the Sound border and that the from what it could tell both chakras weren't one hundred percent human Rin's heart nearly stopped.

Rin knew that so far that in all of the battles that at least one persons chakra was not entirely human but if neither of the two people fighting were using just human chakra then Naruto had to be using Kyuubi's chakra while fighting someone. Gaara seemed to since Rin's internal debate because he told the snake to guide her to the fight and that he would be able to find their original destination on his own.

Rin shot Gaara a greatly glance as she ran off following the snake summon.

**

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**Scene change no jutsu**

Naruto jumped away from Sasuke. Their fight so far had been a stalemate. Naruto was utilizing his bloodline to make sure that Sasuke was unable to effectively use his Sharingan, which was also active but Naruto hadn't fully mastered his bloodline. Naruto knew he had the speed but he was tiring fast. That coupled with the fact that Sasuke's sharingan took away most, if not all, of the speed advantage meant that Naruto was in trouble, and he knew it.

But before Naruto could come up with a plan black marks started to spread across Sasuke's body. Naruto knew that Sasuke was already starting to use the parasite inside of him to increase his abilities. Before Naruto could do much of anything besides asking for a little chakra from Kyuubi Sasuke took off running at him doing hand signs. By the time Naruto realized what Sasuke was doing it was almost too late. Naruto activated his bloodline creating the Valmanway sword right in the path of Sasuke's Chidori. Naruto would rather it had been a Rasengan but he wouldn't have been able to make one in time to stop Sasuke.

The two attacks clashed in the middle of the river but Sasuke's Chidori was slowly pushing its way through Naruto's sword. Naruto really didn't care if his sword lost or not because the delay gave Naruto enough time to kick Sasuke away and into the side of the canyon.

"Sasuke, is killing your brother really worth all this," Naruto asked as Sasuke got up.

"I don't know but I am starting to understand why my brother killed the clan," Sasuke replied.

Naruto wondered if Sasuke meant that he thought Itachi may have not been in control of his body but before he could think about it anymore Sasuke continued.

"The strong should rule over the weak and the weak should serve the strong or die. Itachi was strong and the clan was weak and refused to serve him. He left me alive so he could test and see if he is really strong to rule or too weak be a ruler."

"Sasuke, You truly or delusional," Naruto said back in an even voice.

"I don't care what a weak fool like you thinks. Now, I grow tired of this so am going to kill you and be on my way," Sasuke said back as he started to transform.

The end result had Sasuke looking more demon than human with his near pitch black skin and hand like wings on his back.

_"Ah frell, Kyuubi I'm going to need some more chakra now,"_ Naruto said looking at Sasuke.

**_"No frell Sherlock, but the amount I need to give in your current state will almost immediately start overloading your chakra system,"_** Kyuubi replied.

_"Noted. Know give me the chakra before he decides to attack,"_ Naruto said trying not to get killed.

Kyuubi's chakra pored out of Naruto till it took the shape of a translucent red one tailed fox.

"So, you finally decide to get serious," Said in a tone that reminded Naruto of the voice that he heard Itachi use while he was possessed.

Sasuke didn't wait for Naruto to reply before he took off at full speed toward Naruto. Naruto took a defensive stance as Sasuke charged but it still didn't take Sasuke very long to slam Naruto into the base of one of the statues while he himself followed to the bank of the river.

_"Great! It looks like he managed to unlock the third the third tomoe of his Sharingan and I'm nowhere near proficient enough in using the Reiki Rei for it to be of much help," _Naruto thought not liking how this fight was turning out.

**_"Naruto, when like you are now you can use my chakra like an extension of your self to fight and strike him from a distance," _**Kyuubi said trying to help.

Naruto mentally nodded and then punched forward willing Kyuubi's chakra to extend and strike the shadow on the inside of the dust. The attack caught Sasuke off guard and sent him smashing into the statue on the other side of the valley.

Naruto stood there panting as the dust settled around him. He knew he needed to end the fight quick. He could already feel his body start to numb from chakra overload. The only problem was that he didn't know how. Then he saw Sasuke doing the same hand signs he had used before. This gave Naruto an idea.

**_"Wow, you actually came up with a plan that wasn't completely suicidal," _**Kyuubi remarked sarcastically as Naruto powered up a Rasengan his right hand.

Sasuke finished the hand signs and grabbed his right wrist as a Chidori came to life in it. Both Naruto and Sasuke charged for each other. Sasuke had his right hand behind with his left in front so he could twist his body and get the most power behind his Chidori. Naruto also had his right hand behind him but he had his left hand in a loose fist pushing slightly against his right shoulder.

The two fighters were in mid air with different thoughts. Naruto just hoped his plan would work while Sasuke was sure that he would win without a scratch on him. Naruto pushed his Rasengan toward Sasuke while he moved his left hand in a backhand like motion. Sasuke ignored Naruto's left hand since it wouldn't be able to harm him as he pushed his Chidori toward Naruto.

Naruto's smirk was the only indication that Sasuke was in trouble as the attacks were about to meet. The Kubikiri Honcho appeared in Naruto's left hand and a split second later the backside of it was slamming into the side of Sasuke's head. Sasuke flew back from the power hit and an angle that fortunately for him meant that he slammed into the bank of the river.

Naruto let out a sigh when the dust cleared and he saw that Sasuke was unconscious and back to normal. Naruto wearily stepped toward Sasuke as Kyuubi stopped giving him chakra. He just barely made to the bank before he heard a whistling sound and spun to his left. He apparently didn't dodge whatever it was he heard because pain suddenly erupted from his left shoulder. Naruto staggered for a second before he fell to the ground unconscious.

**

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**Scene change no jutsu**

Rin was rushing through the trees as fast as she could go. Anko's summon was had told her that the two fighters were straight ahead and she took off. Although, right now nobody would need a summon to know where the fight was taking place, the chakra the two were giving out would lead anybody right to them.

Rin came rushing through the tree line and stopped at the edge of the cliff. She didn't stop long because she looked down to see a figure walking toward two more on the ground. She dashed down the side of the cliff toward the three figures on the opposite side of the river. As she ran across the river, she was able to tell the figure on the ground closest to the bank was Naruto, with a Kunai in his back. As much as she wanted to stop, she didn't. She took a quick glance toward the other two figures and recognized them both, Sasuke laying on the ground unconscious and Kabuto.

"Ah, who do we have here," Kabuto said as he stopped next to Sasuke. "Why I do believe its Kazama Rin. What are you doing here?"

"Killing you if you don't get out of here now," Rin shot back.

"I would like to see you try but I need to get Sasuke here back to Orochimaru," Kabuto said smoothly as he pushed up his glasses.

"The Uchiha is going to stay with me," Rin said forcefully.

"That would normally mean we would fight but I took the liberty of poisoning Naruto there with several of my poisons and if he doesn't get treatment in the next few minutes he'll die," Kabuto replied smirking.

Rin's face paled at hearing this and she didn't doubt Naruto had been poisoned given the medical knowledge of Kabuto. Kabuto saw that his words had the desired effect and quickly grabbed Sasuke and left. Rin saw Kabuto leave and then immediately started tending to the poisoned and bleeding Naruto.

**

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**

**Scene change no jutsu**

Naruto slowly opened his eyes. While he didn't recognize what ceiling he was staring at first, the smell of the room gave it away.

"Great, I'm back in the hospital," Naruto said with a groan.

"Naruto, you're awake," a voice that Naruto recognized as Hinata's exclaimed. "I'll be right back. I have to go get Tsunade."

It wasn't two minutes before Naruto started talking to Kyuubi.

_"So, what do you want to do?" _

**_"I don't know what do you want to…wait a minute! Didn't we just get done with this conversation while you where in here,"_** Kyuubi asked about ready to start bashing his head into the seal if Naruto continued with the conversation.

Thankfully Tsunade came into the room before Naruto could reply along with Temari, Hinata, and Rin.

"How are you feeling," Tsunade asked as she ran a diagnostic jutsu on Naruto.

"Other than feeling like an Akimichi beat me up for eating the last bit of food, Fine I guess. Why," Naruto replied.

"Because Kabuto managed to fill you with a wide array of poisons that could kill a person several times over yesterday," Rin responded.

"What," Naruto shouted.

"Quite," Tsunade said as she nearly hit him on the head for being so noisy in a hospital. "Yes he did and by all accounts you should still be unconscious right now."

"I take that he got Sasuke then," Naruto asked.

"Yeah he did but overall your mission was a success," Tsunade replied.

"Huh," was Naruto's brilliant response to that statement.

"All of your team survived," Rin stated. "That in itself is quite the feat when you consider they fought against Orochimaru's personal guards. Your team also managed to capture two of their members. Speaking of which, would you please explain to us why Shikamaru told us not to remove the tags on their necks and why their still unconscious?"

Fast Forward no jutsu

"…and once I'm out of the hospital I'll be able to get rid of them," Naruto said finishing his twenty minute explanation.

"Well from what I saw earlier you should be able to leave tomorrow morning. I want to make sure there are no lasting effects from the poisons," Tsunade said.

"I'm fine now really. The only reason that Kabuto's poisons knocked me out like that was because I was so tired," Naruto trying to get out of the hospital.

"And how do you know that? Kabuto used some pretty powerful poisons," Rin asked afraid of the answer.

"Because people have tried to poison me before," came Naruto's solemn answer.

The resounding scream of what from the other occupants in the room managed to not only deafen Naruto for a few moments but was heard throughout the hospital.

"Who? How? Why? When," a stunned Hinata asked.

"At the orphanage, the senseis at the academy, here, for as long as I can remember, and Kyuubi," Naruto responded to the questions.

"Why is this the first time I've heard about this," Rin asked.

"Because Kyuubi just told me about all the times I was poisoned when I asked how he knew he could get rid of the poisons Kabuto used," Naruto in an almost dead voice.

"Uh, question," Temari said looking sad and confused. "What does Kyuubi have to do with any of this? Didn't the Fourth Hokage kill it?"

"That's right I haven't told you about that yet. Oops," Rin said meekly.

"That's alright I'll do it," Naruto said grabbing every ones attention. "Gaara and I are alike in that we share a burden placed upon us by our fathers."

Temari's eyes almost instantly widened when she realized the burden that Naruto was talking about.

"You mean to tell me THE Kyuubi no Kitsune is sealed inside you? Wait, your father did that to you…" Temari asked in a shocked voice.

"Yes the stories about the Fourth Hokage beating Kyuubi are true just not how he beat him," Naruto said seeing where Temari's thoughts were taking her.

"Then the Fourth is your father," Temari asked as barely above a whisper.

"Yeah, he is. Now, you can't go off and tell everyone about the fourth being my father. I wish you didn't have to leave your family behind for this treaty but look at this way, you're engaged to Konoha's equivalent of royalty," Naruto finished with a lopsided grin.

Temari just slowly nodded slowly at Naruto's words still trying to process what she was just told. As Temari was nodding, Gaara and Kankuro walked into the room.

"What did you do to Temari," Kankuro said after looking at Temari.

"Not much," Naruto replied nonchalantly. "I just got done telling her how many things are families have in common."

Kankuro just looked at Naruto confused. Gaara did as well for a moment but then it looked like a light bulb went off in Gaara's head.

"I see," Gaara said in his usual monotone voice. "Shukaku would like to thank both you and his old friend for freeing him."

This statement from Gaara just confused Kankuro even further.

"Will someone please tell me what's going on," Kankuro asked nearly pulling his hair out in confusion, if he could that is.

"It is in Naruto's best interest that you do not know but you will find out when Naruto is able to defend himself from old grudges," Gaara said before turning and leaving the room pulling Kankuro along with him.

"Well since you seem to be feeling okay and in the light of recent information I don't see why you shouldn't go home now as long as you take it easy for the next few days," Tsunade said before leaving to go have a chat with the Sandaime.

"We'll wait for out in the hall Naruto-kun," Rin pulling a reluctant Hinata and near comatose Temari from the room with her.

Naruto got dressed and met with the others out side the room.

"So what do you want to do," Naruto said as they left the hospital.

Kyuubi just groaned at Naruto's question.

"Naruto you should go home and rest. I don't care how good you feel your going to need to be in top shape when you remove those curse seals," Rin said in a tone of finality.

"She's right you should rest, Naruto-kun," Hinata nodding in agreement. "Besides, you can spend the rest of the day with me and Rin getting to know Temari better."

Naruto didn't see any harm in that and neither did Rin. It was a little before after noon when they got back to the Kazama estate and they all were really hungry at that point. The group decided that they should have a small lunch and then they would go and a have a large picnic later on the grounds with Anko.

**

* * *

**

**Scene change no jutsu**

Anko was happy when she got home that evening to see Naruto happily chatting with Rin, Temari and Hinata in the living room when. She was glad that the three of them got along so well given their circumstances.

Anko knew what it was like to suddenly have your whole world turned upside down. Although in this case it changed Hinata's and Naruto's lives for the better. She didn't know what Temari's life was like in Suna but hopefully the girl would be able to happy here in Konoha.

Anko's musings were cut short when Naruto spotted her.

"Hi, Anko, how are doing?"

"I should be asking you that question, Gaki," Anko replied.

"Yeah I know but hey I need to you to come with me to see Tsunade-obaachan tomorrow," Naruto said getting a mischievous glint in his eyes.

"Why's that," Anko said slightly afraid of that glint in Naruto's eye and completely clueless.

"I just need to get rid of that parasite on your neck along with two other people," Naruto calmly replied.

Anko's eyes widened when she caught the meaning of Naruto's words.

"You mean you know how to get rid of it," Anko asked hoping she wasn't dreaming.

"Hai," Naruto replied back.

Naruto almost immediately regretted saying that as Anko wrapped in a hug so strong he was sure he was going to end up back at the hospital. Hinata smiled at Anko's glee along with Rin. Temari hadn't truly met Anko before this but she heard enough from Naruto, Rin and Hinata to realize that this was probably one of the happiest days in Anko's life. The rest of the day was spent getting to know Temari better and letting Temari get to know all of them better as well.

**

* * *

**

**Scene change no jutsu**

"So tell me again why you're going to do this unsealing alone," Tsunade asked.

"Like I told everyone earlier, I don't know what exactly is going to happen. If something does go wrong then there won't be anything anyone else can do and I would like to avoid as many unnecessary risks as possible," Naruto replied sighing.

Naruto understood everyone's apprehension but he was the only one that could safely remove the curse seals from Anko, Tayuya, and Kimimaro. If anything went wrong he was the most likely to survive. Naruto gave Rin a hug before he went into the sealing room.

The sealing room itself was rather plain except for the fact that it was essentially a vault. The walls were three foot thick steel meant to keep any explosions from damaging Konoha.

"You sure about this kid," Anko asked fidgeting both from anticipation at finally getting rid of the curse seal and also in nervousness at what could go wrong with the removal process.

"No, but Kyuubi is the only one that has any idea how to get rid of it. Rather, what is inside the curse seal," Naruto said truthfully as he applied a blood seal to keep the door shut. "Besides, if I don't try the bone guy here will be dead in a week and the girl would have a year at most. That's if we don't remove my suppressing tags. I'm going to do you first. The process is going to knock you out so for while."

Anko nodded and sat down on the floor and let Naruto do what he needed to do.

_"Alright I hope you know what you're doing Kyuubi,"_ Naruto said.

**_"I'm sixty percent sure I know what I'm doing," _**Kyuubi replied trying to ease Naruto's own fears.**_ "Besides you said yourself the only reason that this wasn't done sooner is because no one knew what the curse seal was holding. Just remember to kill them as soon as the come out. Anko's will die as soon as you release it since it's nothing more than a newborn for their race. It's the other two that will give you trouble since they'll be able to survive and try to find another host to seals themselves into." _**

****

With those encouraging words Naruto got to work.

**

* * *

**

**Scene change no jutsu**

Everyone outside of the sealing room was getting nervous and impatient. It had been four hours since Naruto went in. They had heard three different people screaming. They recognized the first screams as Anko's and could only guess that the other two screams were from the sound nins. The worst part though was that after the second round of screaming they could faintly hear the sounds of battle and then it stopped. They had tried to get into the vault but the door refused to open. After trying for more than five minutes the realized they weren't going to get in.

The latest sounds of battle had stopped twenty minutes ago. Rin and Tsunade were about to try and open the door again when it opened. Naruto wearily stepped through the door, gave a quick thumbs up signaling that all was well and then promptly collapsed. Rin and Tsunade rushed to the fallen blonde. Both of them let out a sigh of relief when they saw that he was just exhausted.

With Naruto's condition verified, Tsunade, Rin and Jiraiya looked in the sealing room to see three unconscious figures. Tsunade called for some medics to take Naruto, Anko and the two Sound nins to recover. She also ordered that the two Sound nins to stay under guard until she had a chance to talk to them.

**

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**

**Scene change no jutsu **

"You wanted to see me, Tsunade," Rin asked as she closed to door to the Hokage's office.

Rin wondered if Tsunade wanted to talk to her about why Naruto had yet to wake from removing the curse seal two days ago.

"Yes, I did," Tsunade replied as she glanced toward Jiraiya standing next to her. "Jiraiya here thinks it would be a good idea for Naruto to leave with him on a training trip shortly after he wakes up and, as much as I don't want to, I'm inclined to agree."

"No," Rin immediately shouted back. "I just found out that my son is alive and you want me to watch him leave with this pervert?"

"Calm down, Rin," Tsunade said as she made a placating gesture. "That's what I told the pervert too but please here him out."

Rin looked at Jiraiya to see him grumbling about how nobody respects him but he quickly got serious when he saw Rin's look of impending doom.

"Rin, the last thing I want to do is to take Naruto away from you but we don't have a choice in the matter," Jiraiya stated. "Akatsuki has dropped from my radar and could come to get Naruto without any notice. Not to mention that he injured Sasuke enough that Orochimaru couldn't take over his body and you know what Orochimaru likes to do with those that get in the way of his plans. And the village in turmoil right now. A lot of people felt Naruto use Kyuubi's chakra during the invasion and used that to fuel the hatred for Naruto."

"I know that you 'adopting' him will help with some but there are many that are going to say that he was you under some type of genjutsu. Come on, you saw the council's reaction to your adoption of Naruto. It basically boils down to that Naruto has a lot of enemies right now and keeping him in the village makes him an easy target, especially since given the threats he won't be able to go on missions. I know you want to go with him but you need to stay here to help change people's attitude toward him and keep the council in check."

The silence that filled the room when Jiraiya stopped talking was almost deafening. Both Tsunade and Jiraiya knew that they could never know what it was like to find someone you thought dead and then have to watch them leave again after just starting to get to know them.

"I really don't have much of a choice do I," Rin asked barely above a whisper.

"I know this is hard for you, Rin," Tsunade spoke softly. "We can use summons to keep in touch."

Rin didn't say anything before she got up and left the room.

Tsunade and Jiraiya could see how hard it was for Rin to not break down and cry right then and there.

* * *

**Scene change no jutsu**

He slowly awoke from the realm of unconsciousness. He looked up at the ceiling to see white. He then looked out the window to see a brightly lit village surrounded by forests. He knew that he was no longer in Mist. He tried to remember what had happened but all he could remember was a snake like man biting his neck before everything just became disjointed. While he was contemplating what happened the door to his room opened.

"Good you're awake," Tsunade said coming through the door.

He tried to ask who the woman was but all he managed was a croaking sound.

"Easy, you've been unconscious for almost week," Tsunade said handing him a drink of water. "So, what's you name and what do you remember?"

"Kimimaro," the youth replied after getting a drink of water.

Kimimaro then told Tsunade everything that he could remember and Tsunade in turn told about what happened to him and where he was.

"So what's going to happen to me now," Kimimaro asked after Tsunade told him what happened.

"You can stay here and become a shinobi if you want. Konaha doesn't hate blood lines like they did in Mist or you can do something else. It's entirely up to you," Tsunade replied shrugging her shoulders.

Kimimaro was shocked that Konaha didn't hate blood lines. It didn't take him long to make up his mind.

"I'll become a shinobi. I don't really have any other skills that I can remember," Kimimaro said looking at Tsunade.

Tsunade nodded at his decision and left the room to check up on the other sound nin.

The other sound nin, Tayuya, had a story that was similar to Kimimaro's, taken as a young child by a snake like man before things started to get blurry. The major difference was the fact that Tayuya remembered that her older sister was also taken by the snake man. Tsunade was glad that Naruto told her that people that had been possessed like that usually didn't remember much beyond combat skills but they only remembered those from practicing for countless hours.

**

* * *

**

**Scene change no jutsu**

Naruto groaned and he looked up and saw the all too familiar hospital ceiling.

"I wonder if they gave me my own room," Naruto wondered aloud. "Or are all the rooms the same?"

Naruto proceeded to stare off into nothing as he thought about the removal of the curse seals. The jutsu that he used to free Itachi and Kisame apparently did nothing more than force the foreign presence out of a body if it wasn't anchored by a seal. So in order to get rid of the curse seal he had to break the seal itself, which was no easy task. Then he had force the parasite out using the jutsu before he could actually kill the parasite.

Anko's parasite had died almost as soon as it was forced out of her body. The parasites from the Sound nin weren't so easy. They were actually able to live about a minute after they were forced out of their host and, while not strong, the parasites were extremely fast.

Naruto was broken out of his thoughts when the door opened revealing Rin.

"Hi," Rin greeted as she smiled.

To most people it the smile would seem as natural as any other but Naruto had learned how to spot a forced smile a mile away, it meant less beatings and heartbreak.

"What's wrong," Naruto asked concerned what could have his mother in such a state.

"Nothing," Rin replied trying to avoid the subject.

"Kaa-san, your smile isn't going to fool me. Now what's wrong," Naruto asked again a bit more forcefully.

After just getting done talking to Jiraiya and Tsunade, hearing Naruto call her mother first the time was the straw that broke the figurative camel's back. Rin broke down as she grabbed on to Naruto and cried into his chest.

Naruto had no idea what brought this on or what to do exactly. So, he did what Hinata had done for him all those months ago and simply hugged his mother. It took about five minutes for Rin to calm down enough to tell him what was going on but when she told him he understood.

"It'll be alright," Naruto tried to reinsure his mother. "I'm only going to be gone for a year and a half. It'll be over before you know it. Besides, Ero-sennin is right. If I stay here I'll just be a sitting target and I have no doubt that either Orochimaru or Akatsuki will have no problems killing you and anyone else that gets in their way."

"I know but it feels like I'm losing you all over again," Rin replied.

Naruto nodded and said that he felt the same way.

**

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**

**Scene change no jutsu**

Naruto sighed as he walked to the front gate. He only got a day to say goodbye to everyone before he had to leave with Jiraiya. In the morning he ended up going on a giant picnic with his close friends, provided that they weren't in the hospital or on a mission. He finished the day at home with Rin, a recently released Anko, Temari and Hinata. It wasn't anything extravagant to most but since Naruto was still trying to adapt to his new life it seemed like a lot.

"You ready," Jiraiya called breaking Naruto out of his thoughts.

Naruto nodded. He had said goodbye to everyone last night and left this morning before anyone else was awake.

"Yeah, let's go, Ero-sennin," Naruto replied.

* * *

**_Fin_**


	17. Chapter 17

**Chapter 17: Nostalgia **

**

* * *

**

Rin sighed as she listened to the councilman drone on. She was in another council meeting and was bored out of her mind. She didn't need to look behind to know that Hinata and Temari were bored as well.

Rin had taken to bringing Hinata and Temari to the council meetings about a year ago. As the future wife of a clan head they might need to sit in Naruto's place for a variety of reasons, especially if he became Hokage. Rin sighed again as she once again forced herself to pay attention to what was going on.

The councilman was talking about how to improve trade with other nations. Although, as bored as Rin was she was glad that Naruto had not been brought up for some time. There were a great many people on the council who still disliked Naruto with a passion and they would have tried to stop her from adopting Naruto a year and a half ago if they weren't trying to prevent others from messing in their clan affairs.

That was one issue that got resolved shortly after Naruto left. It was eventually decided that the council could not intrude on clan affairs and those that proposed the idea lost a great deal of power. That was the real blessing. If were not for that Naruto wouldn't have gotten a very warm welcome when he returned from his training trip.

The council had tried many times to repeal the Sandaime's secrecy law about the Kyuubi saying that the people had a right to now since Naruto could obviously use the Kyuubi's chakra. The idea went over like a lead balloon. Rin along with Tsunade and Sarutobi told them no and that if anyone had to know anything then Naruto's power was the result of a new bloodline.

New bloodlines. That was something else the council had argued about. Haku had been sent on a mission shortly after Naruto left. She hadn't gone on any before because she was training to be a medic nin and hadn't finished training till then. On the mission, the team Haku was with had been ambushed by Sound nin and she was forced to reveal her bloodline.

Haku hadn't been actively hiding her bloodline she just didn't need to use it till then. The Sandaime had known about and didn't have a problem with it but the council, the greedy frellers they were, wanted to immediately have her get married and start making babies.

That idea didn't go over very well with Rin, Tsunade, Sarutobi and a few others on the council. The main reason the idea didn't go over very well was because they wanted to force her into an arranged marriage. The proposed person just happened to be the son of the one who said that she should have to get married.

That and Konoha refused to marry people against their will, most of the time at least. In the past when a treaty required a marriage the person from Konoha had volunteered.

Naruto's arrangement was brought about because Suna insisted that Naruto be the one to marry Temari and those that were at least neutral towards the boy saw it as a way to give him a chance to have a family. It also garunted that Konoha would be nice to her because if Temari was killed by Konoha citizens, well that would just be very bad for Konoha.

Speaking of Temari, she had done quit well for herself in the last year and a half. She was promoted to Chuunin by Suna shortly after Naruto left since at the time of the exams she was still a Suna Kunoichi. She also had a deep respect for Naruto. Not only for helping Gaara but also for living a life just as bad if not worse than Gaara's and not going on a massive killing spree. She had gotten to know Naruto fairly well or at least as well as she could with mainly reading letters from him.

Temari would have like to have known where Naruto was and the names of some of the places he had gone to but she knew that the entire reason he was on the training trip was to hide so she didn't even ask. She had also seen her brothers a number of times whether that be on one of her rare trips to Suna or when her brothers came to Konoha.

Temari also got to know Hinata quit a bit and got along great with her and Hinata even went to Suna a few times a well. This was a relief since they both would be married to the same man for the rest of their lives. Hinata and Temari had even been able to meet up with Naruto a few times to spend time together, even if every time that happened was a surprise because Temari and Hinata where in Suna when Naruto passed through there.

Hinata.

Now that was a real surprise to Rin. She had changed from the most timid and insecure girl into a more outgoing and confident girl. Although, Rin had told herself many times that she shouldn't have been surprised. After all, it was her lack of confidence that held her back and when your own father constantly tells you that you're worthless for almost as long as you can remember it's nearly impossible to gain any kind of confidence.

That was the first thing Anko worked on when Hinata moved into the Kazama estate. Anko knew what it was like to be told you're worthless by those around you and probably would have killed herself if Arashi and Rin didn't make her move into the Kazama estate with them. Hinata looked up to Anko like an older sister for what she had done. Anko had told Rin that she had spent almost an entire month working nearly everyday for her to get it through Hinata's head that what Hiashi said was wrong and that she was strong.

Rin herself spent a lot of time working with Hinata. Tsunade asked her to get Hinata started on the basics in being a medic nin. Hinata surprised both of them with what she already knew and the quality of her creams and salves. Tsunade had even gone as far as taking Hinata on as her apprentice and last Rin had heard Hinata had just about mastered the technique Tsunade used for her super strength. Rin also knew that Hinata was working on a technique in secret for some time.

Neji had slowly been patching up his relationship with Hinata as well but it was slow going. Hiashi seemed to be trying to improve his relationship with Hinata as well for the past six months. Rin wasn't sure what had brought the change about but she had a suspicion that Tsunade conversation with him six months ago played at least a part in it.

Rin herself was glad that she had come back to Konoha. She had missed it for quit some time before she came back but the pain that she felt whenever she thought of coming back kept her away. She missed Naruto a lot and so did everyone that really knew him. Rin had found out the most about Naruto from Yamanaka Ino. In a way it really wasn't that surprising. No one had really known Naruto till almost two years ago.

Rin had heard from various people what Naruto's life was like but Ino was the only one that was able to tell her, as well as Tsunade, Anko and Sarutobi, what Naruto's life was really like, even if it only was in bits and pieces. A lot of people got to meet Anko or Ibiki personally for what Ino said they did. Although, Rin's favorite punishment was when Ino would force people to view their crimes through Naruto's life with a jutsu she developed.

Ibiki actually found out that Ino's jutsu worked well on prisoners as well, though they all thought that it was just a genjutsu, even Kakashi did at first.

Kakashi. Rin still couldn't stand to be near her former teammate. Once he realized that his trip down Naruto's memory lane was real he had gone into shock for a few days. Rin found a certain level of satisfaction in the fact that he could still be seen at times mumbling about how he almost caused the destruction of the village and how badly he betrayed the very saying that he told his students to live by shortly after they passed the gennin exam.

Speaking of Kakashi's gennin, rather, former gennin Tsunade officially disbanded team 7. Tsunade said that there wasn't much point in having Kakashi train one student, that and she deemed him unfit to teach. Tsunade simply moved Sakura to Kurenai's team filling in the hole that Hinata's apprenticeship left on the team.

Sasuke's betrayal had been the final thing to get Sakura to drop her obsession over Sasuke. Apparently, Ino's words at the chuunin exams had really got the girl thinking long and hard about Naruto, Sasuke and her world in general.

Kurenai wasn't too happy about the change. The first thing she did was get Sakura to drop the last vestiges of being a fan girl and start taking her life as a kunoichi seriously. Once that was done, Kurenai had found someone that she could pass her knowledge about genjutsu on to. Ino picked up a few genjutsu from her as well but Ino seemed to be more interested in taking over Ibiki's job than genjutsu.

To say that Ibiki was happy that someone not only liked how he played with peoples minds but also wanted to learn how to do it themselves was a big understatement, it actually made him smile. Ino didn't like actual physical torture but Ibiki told her that no one really should enjoy it, it's just most that did were able to force themselves to do it.

Rin sighed once again as the meeting was called to an end. She could tell that Tsunade was just as exasperated as she was with all the pointless arguing. Rin walked back home with Hinata and Temari idly chatting about inconsequential things. All three of them couldn't wait until Naruto returned. Rin glanced at the calendar as she took her shoes off entering the Kazama estate. She did a double take when she realized that today was circled in red and written in was a message saying that Naruto should be returning tomorrow.

Rin nearly smacked herself for forgetting that. She had talked to those that knew Naruto and his secrets into getting together to throw him a welcome home party. She had also told them that this would be a surprise birthday party. From what Rin had been able to gather Naruto had never actually been able to have a normal birthday party that all of his peers took for granted.

Rin allowed a small smile to appear on her face. She didn't doubt that Naruto's face would be hilarious after they surprised him. Rin quickly turned to Hinata and Temari reminding them what they had planned for tomorrow. They both actually smacked themselves upon hearing. Then they to gave a small smile as they put their shoes back on to go and get all the necessary supplies.

* * *

**Scene change no jutsu**

Jiraiya smiled as he looked at Naruto. They were almost back to Konoha and Naruto couldn't wait to get back. The pair had a lot of fun during their trip. Jiraiya almost let out a giggle about all the research he would be able to do once he got back. Jiraiya sorely missed his beloved research. He hadn't had the time or the luxury of indulging himself. Trying to remain hidden meant that they stayed away from larger towns. Jiraiya sighed as he realized that even if they did go into town training Naruto took almost all of his energy.

They had discovered that using Kage Bunshin during the trip wouldn't be feasible for the most part. It worked well for learning sealing jutsu but everything else caused to much damage for a Kage Bunshin to help with, that and Jiraiya simply couldn't keep up with Naruto's energy. Jiraiya had taught Naruto a few of his own jutsu among those that he taught him but Jiraiya had primarily focused on taijutsu during their trip.

Naruto could fight and the amount of speed and power when he did so was really good but he still lacked form. Jiraiya really wasn't surprised about that fact. No one had taught Naruto any form until Anko had taken over his training. Even then she had two months to try and pound decent form into him, which she did quite well he noted, and the month that he had spent training Naruto before the third stage of the chuunin exam was primarily spent on other things.

Still, all the time and effort that Naruto put into his training was really starting to show. Jiraiya estimated that Naruto could fight at least on jounin level in taijutsu. Kenjutsu was another matter altogether. Naruto had been able to use his Kage Bunshin to do his kenjutsu training via the scrolls from the Kazama library and those that Hayate had given Naruto before he left and he even managed to completely mastered covering himself with the Reiki Rei.

Jiraiya was disappointed to note that the gate guards weren't happy to see Naruto and he noted that Naruto's happy demeanor dimmed as well. The people inside the village varied. Some of them seemed happy to see Naruto when they recognized him, some just viewed him as another nin or ignored him like they would others when walking down the street and then there were still those that held Naruto with disdain.

The entire walk Naruto adopted what most people would consider a game face, a face that didn't give away or portray any given emotion. Inside the Hokage Tower people didn't show any signs of dislike for Naruto that the civilian populous did, either that or they hid it better.

The pair nodded to the guards as they walked through the door to Tsunade's office to see her wide awake.

"Ha, I win again Ero-sennin," Naruto announced in a jovial tone.

Jiraiya grumbled under his breath at Naruto's declaration but internally he was happy to see Naruto's mood brighten.

"What did you win, Naruto," Tsunade asked raising her eyebrow.

"Well, it isn't so much for me. It's more of something that all the females in the world will love," Naruto replied with a victories grin on his face.

"Really," Tsunade asked with her interest at an all time high. "And what might that be?"

"Ero-sennin here can't go and 'research' for the next month," Naruto replied like it was no big deal.

Tsunade's face broke out into a huge grin but then suddenly became confused.

"What did you two bet about," she asked.

"Ero-sennin here thought that you would be sitting here asleep on the job and I bet him that you wouldn't be," Naruto replied looking at Tsunade.

Jiraiya had been off in a corner muttering about how no one showed him any respect till he heard Naruto tell Tsunade what the bet was. He went stiff for half a moment before he was sent flying through the air form Tsunade's punch. Naruto just laughed at Jiraiya's luck as he shouted out to him about how now he couldn't go peeking for the next two months.

Tsunade calmed down enough to sit down in her chair once again. Once she accomplished this she asked Naruto a few questions about where they traveled and a few other general questions. When Naruto asked her why she didn't want to know any specifics Tsunade merely replied that she would hear the details later with the rest of his family.

At the mention of family Naruto said that he wondered how they were doing. Tsunade told him why doesn't he find out and she could get the details of his trip while they all caught up.

Tsunade's experience on the way to the Kazama Estate was similar to what Jiraiya's was on his way to her office. She noticed the glares and even saw a few people talking to others under their breath. It didn't take a genius to figure out what they were saying wasn't the nicest things in the world, not with the glares that accompanied those whispers.

Although Tsunade's mood was dampened by Naruto's welcome home by the villagers, she still had to work at keeping a straight face as she anticipated Naruto's reaction to the surprise party. It was unfortunate for her that she punched Jiraiya out of her office and wasn't told about the party. He might have been able to tell her what Naruto's reaction would be.

As it was Jiraiya was unable to do so which led to the state of those that were invited to the party. Almost everyone had a sharp pointy object dangerously close to a vital point. As it was, there would have probably have been a need for Tsunade to do some major healing if Naruto hadn't been able realize who his targets where at the last second.

Everyone in the room looked petrified except for Shino, but you really couldn't see him to begin with. They had expected a lot of reactions, surprise, tears that sort of thing but an attack was something that no one guessed would happen. No one moved until Teuchi and Ayame came from the kitchen to see what was going on.

"What the frell," Teuchi nearly shouted when his mind registered the state of those in the room.

"Uh, sorry," Naruto said sheepishly as he scratched the back of his head.

"What kind of reaction is that," Anko nearly shouted.

"It's the reaction I have when people surprise me," Naruto replied with a straight face.

"Again I ask, what kind of reaction is that," Anko said looking at Naruto.

Naruto as he rubbed his face, "You know what my life has been like. Do you really expect me to react any other way?"

The room was silent at this question. They knew what his life had been like and it was similar to how a lot of ninja reacted after being one for too long in most people's opinion. Naruto himself was busy looking around the room trying to figure out why his friends and family were jumping out surprising him. He eventually gave up and just asked what was going on.

The mood in the room dropped further at Naruto's question. It saddened them that at almost sixteen Naruto was unable to recognize a simple surprise party. Rin stepped foreword and told him what they were doing. Naruto got a sad smile as he thanked everyone there. Everyone was confused when Naruto asked if they recorded his entrance into the house when Rin was done explaining what was going on. They told him they did and grew further confused when he asked if he could see it.

Anko gained a small smirk as she put the tape on to watch. The tape started with Rin telling everyone to be quit shortly before he reached the door. After a few moments and the shout of surprise, Naruto saw what he was looking for. He and Anko broke into a fit of laughter when they saw everyone's reaction. Everyone else in the room started to laugh as they realized how scared everyone looked and just like that the mood of the party lightened. Naruto had a lot of fun throughout the party and everyone else seemed to as well.

Naruto opened everyone's presents with a slight look of awe. It took people a minute to realize that these were probably some of the only presents that Naruto has ever gotten in his life. Eventually though the party started too break up and people began to leave. By the time everything was said and done Naruto was exhausted in every since of the word.

Naruto went through his normal nightly routine including his 'meditation' and climbed into bed. He admitted to himself that the party was nice but he wished that he didn't have to wait for almost seventeen years to actually get one. Then again, as the saying goes you don't really appreciate something until you don't have it or in Naruto's case you appreciate it a lot more when you finally do get it. With those thoughts Naruto drifted off into sleep that was, thankfully, on a nice bed for a change.

* * *

**Scene change no jutsu**

The following week Naruto spent his time catching up with those he knew and training. He made a special effort to get to know Rin more and pick her brains for anything that would help him in his training. But a majority of Naruto's time was spent with his two fiancés. He was going to be married to them in a little over a year and a half and he really didn't want to marry someone that he barely knew. Temari and Hinata actually made great sparring partners for Naruto. The discovered early on that one on one spars with Hinata and Temari taking turns fighting Naruto worked the best, Anko even commented that Naruto had more stamina than Lee.

Naruto also made sure to stop by Ichiraku's Ramen to catch up with Teuchi and his daughter and eat a little ramen, at least what Naruto considers a little ramen. That was another thing that Jiraiya found out about Naruto during their trip. It turned out that Naruto's metabolism was just that fast. Neither he nor Naruto or Kyuubi knew the cause and no one really cared at that point.

Naruto had also run into Konahamaru that week and saw the variations that he had made of Naruto's _Orioke No Jutsu. _Naruto had to admit that they were great distractions and even useful infiltration jutsu but the version Konahamaru did for Sakura was still giving him nightmares. He made sure to add that to the list that the 'special' genjutsu that was made for Kakashi was on.

Kakashi was one person that Naruto didn't run into and he really didn't care about it either. Kakashi made his bed and now he was going to have to lie in it. Oh, he would still listen to him on missions but it would be nothing more than 'I listen to you only because I have to' deal.

The biggest thing that Naruto had to get used to was who his friends were seeing. Tayuya had managed to tame the azure beast of Konoha and anyone that can turn mini-Gai into a human once again is a miracle worker in Naruto's book. Well maybe not make him human but more like putting the fear of God into him. Anyway, Haku was actually seeing a medic-nin she had gotten to know recently. But the biggest shock of all to most people, or maybe not once you thought about it, was the fact that Tenten and Kimimaro had hooked up and were going out.

From what Naruto had heard it they started out as sparing partners simply because they were both experts with a wide range of weapons, Tenten by choice of expertise and Kimimaro because of his unique bloodline, and took off from there. Most of Naruto's other friends had managed to find someone else they liked either in the civilian sector or another shinobi.

But alas all good things must come to an end and now it was time for him to start missions again.

Naruto almost sighed as he and Hinata came into Tsunade's office. He really wished he had more time to get to know Temari, Hinata, Rin and Anko before he had to start missions again but at the same time he couldn't wait to get back to them. He was, however, shocked when he saw how alert Tsunade was when he walked into her office.

"What's the mission Tsunade-sama," Naruto asked.

Tsunade wasn't sure if she should be disturbed by how polite Naruto was being or not, but she put it aside to think about later once the mission briefing was over. It was also at this time that two new figures stepped into the room. The first one was wearing the same style helmet as the first Hokage and introduced himself as Yamato. The second person came in wearing a smile that screamed fake at Naruto. Naruto figured that the second guy, Sai, was a root agent. Jiraiya had told him all about Danzo and his organization but before Naruto could think about it further Tsunade started talking.

"The reason that I called you in here is for a information gathering mission that has the potential to turn into an assassination mission. Jiraiya has managed to find out that an Akatsuki agent will be meeting one of their spies from within Orochimaru's ranks. This ninja is supposed to be fairly high on the totem pole in Oto but this is an opportunity find out where Orochimaru and Uchiha Sasuke are hiding so we feel that it's worth the risk. Yamato here will be acting as the leader for this mission, Hinata will be the medic and Sai and Naruto will be the backup in case things get ugly. Find out where Orochimaru's base is and if you can you are to kill Sasuke but only if you can do so quietly. Any questions? Good, dismissed."

* * *

_FIN_

yes I'm still alive and writing. I know that I haven't updated in forever and I could state a few reasons but I won't. I'll just say that I will finish this story one day even if it takes a while. reviews give me a reason to write faster but hey that part is up to you. Hope you enjoyed it. See yeah.


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